ODOT’s winter bill keeps going up

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

LIMA — Another week, another million dollars spent on snow and ice removal in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 1. That’s the story provided in a winter operations update released Friday by the Lima-based ODOT district, an eight-county area that includes Van Wert County, as well as Allen, Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Paulding, Putnam and Wyandot counties.

According to the update, the district has now spent $5.8 million on snow and ice removal for the 2014-15 winter. That’s $1.2 million more than was spent prior to an update released February 13.

According to ODOT’s statistics, a total of 37,547 tons of salt has been used this winter, up from 32,147 tons used on February 13. Approximately 787,847 gallons of brine and other deicing liquids has also been used, up from 644,588 gallons used prior to a week ago.

In Van Wert County, the total for salt usage is up from 3,649 tons used by February 13 to 4,209 tons in the latest report, while brine usages increased from 70,410 gallons on February 13 to 78,902 gallons on Friday.

While this winter’s totals are above the average of $4.1 million spent on snow and ice control over the past decade, they are significantly below last winter — the worst year in recent memory for ODOT’s District 1.

To compare, at this point last year a total of 55,282 tons of salt had been used and $7.3 million spent on snow and ice control in District 1.

Last winter’s total for snow and ice removal was a whopping $8.7 million.