Thousands of state transportation department employees will spend about $40-million to fight snow and ice on our highways this winter. The department will spend about $10-million dollars on materials, another ten on fuel and repairs of the snow-fighting vehicles, and $20-million on labor—the 3200 workers throughout the state including the 700 people on the road in what are called “safety sensitive positions.”
Salt costs $60 a ton. Maintenance Liaison Engineer Tim Chojnacki says a ton of salt can cover about ten miles of interstate highway. The department has about 76,000 lane miles to clear. County and city road crews clear about 55,000 more. Their costs are on top of the $40 million the state spends.