City wants feedback on Edmonton’s anti-icing pilot program

Sure, the warm weather has arrived, but the city wants citizens to think back about winter driving and give feedback on Edmonton’s anti-icing pilot program.

People have until Sunday to complete an online survey at edmonton.ca/snowinthecity.

This past winter, the city applied a calcium chloride solution on about 3,000 kilometres of roads as part of an expanded pilot that initially started in February and March 2017.

READ MORE: Edmonton to unveil massive policy change to snow clearing

The anti-icing agent is only used up to a temperature of -25 C. The product, which is applied in a thin layer once per snowfall, prevents the snow from sticking to the pavement, the city said. The product is meant to make it easier for crews to remove snow from the streets.

What’s been the public response so far?

“I’m hearing kind of 50-50,” Councillor Michael Walters said.

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“People really appreciated a better Whitemud Freeway, some better main roads this year in terms of safer travelling. But then the negatives I’m hearing about, also. The dead grass along edges of roads, the build-up — sort of caking — in people’s garages, people nervous about what it’s doing to the undercarriages of their vehicles.”

Walters said those questions will be addressed with the city operations staff.

READ MORE: City of Edmonton pleased with new anti-icing snow clearing

“I was actually quite concerned,” said Christian Gersdorff concerning the city using this calcium chloride solution. He’s worked in the automotive industry for over 25 years.

“A client of ours mentioned that they were going to start using brine salt and I had a heart attack.

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“As a technician, I’ve seen what that stuff can do. Working on vehicles — you see vehicles come in from Ontario and it was night and day difference between everything that came from out there to here. They do use a different compound. It’s sodium chloride versus calcium chloride. They say that the stuff they’re using here is less corrosive but that doesn’t mean it isn’t corrosive.”

Gersdorff said he’s seen all sorts of issues with vehicles he believes are linked to the chloride solution.

“Finishes that are being damaged, trim, badging, there’s stuff on paint that is not coming off. I was talking to a client the other day and his SUV, he’s done everything to try and get this residue off his paint and it simply won’t come off.”

In November 2017, Janet Tecklenborg, a spokesperson with the city’s Parks and Roads Services department said calcium chloride is less corrosive than traditional salt.

“And we’re working with materials that contain a corrosion inhibitor,” Tecklenborg said.

Still, some people raised concerns about the impact on vehicles, concrete, even pets.

READ MORE: Is calcium chloride solution used on Edmonton winter roads pet-friendly? 

“I do believe that they should look at alternatives, but ultimately, in my opinion, the biggest thing that should be implemented is mandatory winter tires and education to explain to people that we have one of the harshest climates in the world here,” Gersdorff said. “Why is it not mandatory?”

He also said an anti-icer that uses beet juice — a technique used in other jurisdictions — sounded promising.

“All options are still on the table,” Walters said. “Technology is changing fast.”

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He said the survey results will help figure out where to go from here.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet. I think, at this point in time, where we’re asking people what they think is going to be really telling.”

WATCH: New anti-icing solution to be used in Edmonton this winter

Gersdorff has filled out the survey and hopes others do too.

“I was quite surprised to see that it’s really quite geared in the direction of: ‘Hey, how great is this stuff?’ It’s a very leading survey,” he said. “They do ask for your opinion but a lot of the questions in there do make it sound like it’s a good thing.”

During the initial pilot earlier in 2017, the city said it found lanes treated with the new solution stayed clear of snow and ice longer than roads not treated with it.

The city still used a mix of sand and salt, but was able to use less sand than ever before.