Public works presents snow-removal plan, experiments with brine to reduce salt use

Melanie, the city's public works presenter, walked council through Kent's snow-removal program, explaining road-priority tiers (primaries, collectors and residential streets), shift patterns (8-hour weekday shifts, 12-hour weekend shifts) and an invitation for council members to ride along during operations.

Melanie described operational changes designed to optimize salt use and reduce costs. She said the city is experimenting with pre-wetting salt brine and anticipates a roughly 18 percent reduction in salt usage from that practice. "Putting the brine down on the streets has allowed us to lose about 18% of our salt usage," she said, while noting that additives increase asphalt corrosion and the main stormwater outflow to the river raises environmental trade-offs.

Council asked about the use of gravel as an alternative and Melanie said gravel adds silt to stormwater and creates hazardous material handling and cleanup issues. She also explained that Parks and Rec administers the sidewalk-clearing program and that state-route sidewalks are prioritized when snow exceeds specified thresholds.

Melanie closed by noting the city maintains nearly 200 lane miles of roads and that staff will continue experiments and preventive maintenance to balance safety, environmental impacts and road repair needs.