St. Cloud Crews Getting Ready To Treat Icy Roads

(KNSI) – St. Cloud’s snowplow crews are gearing up to tackle the latest of what Old Man Winter is ready to throw at them.

The National Weather Service predicts snow, sleet, rain and freezing rain starting Tuesday morning. Officials say a big part of keeping the community safe is trying to keep ice from building up on the roads. St. Cloud Assistant Public Works Director Brian Schoenecker says they mix an organic compound from sugar beets called Beet Heat to keep the streets safe. “We found that by using this product we actually can cut our salt usage down. So, we’re putting less rock salt on the roads and we’re still getting a very good treatment process going on with the snow and ice.”

Schoenecker says anyone putting salt on roads in St. Cloud goes through training provided by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to learn how to apply it correctly. “The operators of this equipment learn how to put the correct amounts of salt down and not overdo it. And that not only helps the environment, but it also helps keep our costs down with chemicals and anything else if applied correctly.”

St. Cloud maintains around 325 miles of road. It takes crews about 14 hours to clear a two to six-inch snow event and up to two to four days if they get more than eight.

A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the St. Cloud area on Tuesday.

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