AOT maintenance director reports $23–24 million winter costs, heavy salt use and tree‑cutting for safety to Senate Transportation Committee

Ernie Patnaud, director of maintenance for the Agency of Transportation (AOT), told the Senate Transportation Committee that AOT spent roughly $23 million to $24 million on winter maintenance this season and used large quantities of salt and deicing materials.

Patnaud said, “this winter was a real Vermont winter,” and gave several figures for spending and material use during a committee exchange. He said the agency “spent right around 23,000,000 this winter” and later described the season’s total as “about $24.23, 23 and a half million.” He also told the committee the public dashboard currently used for winter metrics “only goes half a year” and that AOT completed a vendor and software switch on Dec. 31, which has limited what historical data are visible.

Why it matters: higher-than-average winter costs affect…