Less sand on slippery roads this winter

Santiam Pass highway crews are going to cut the amount of sand they put down on the highway this winter nearly in half from prior seasons. Chains will be required more often.

The Oregon Department of Transportation's Highway Division is responding primarily to environmental concerns, according to Don Jordan, District 3 Manager in Salem. District 3 extends east past Suttle Lake to the Jack Lake Road intersection with Highway 20.

Jordan said the Forest Service has indicated that cinders flowing into creeks and rivers harm fish. The Santiam is also the watershed for the City of Salem. Cinders also result in dust, a concern of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

"There are financial concerns as well," Jordan said, "but it mainly has to do with the environment."

In the past, trucks would be out sanding during snow storms. Cinders would quickly be covered with snow. Then, that layer of cinders would be plowed into the ditch and another layer put down when the next plow/sander came along.

According to Bill Tucker, head of the crew at the Santiam Pass, in past years, up to 42,000 yards of cinders were distributed to the roads in this manner. This year, the goal is to cap it at 22,000 yards.

To get that reduction, Tucker said, "Whenever it is snowing, and we have pack on the roads where chains won't eat up asphalt, we won't sand. When the storm is over we will sand it up so people can go back to carry mode (carrying instead of using tire chains)."

This will make it more inconvenient for motorists, however. When it is snowing on the pass, ODOT will go to a "chains required" condition more frequently.

While four-wheel-drive vehicles are allowed to travel with all-weather tires when chains are required on other vehicles, even these must also at least carry chains to qualify.

According to Don Jordan, these changes may actually lead to fewer wrecks on the pass, not more.

"We have found that when chains are required, accidents are reduced in severity. We just don't have accidents," Jordan said.