Storms add $1 million to area ODOT costs

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

While this winter hasn’t been nearly as bad as last year for the Ohio Department of Transportation, the winter storms that hit the area in late January and late February added more than $1 million to ODOT’s snow and ice removal costs for the winter.

According to a winter operations update, ODOT’s District 1, which includes Van Wert, Allen, Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Paulding, Putnam and Wyandot counties, has spent a total of $4.6 million on snow removal and ice control, which includes labor, equipment and materials. That’s $1.3 million more than an update released in late January that showed ODOT’s District 1 had spent $3.3 million in snow removal costs.

Of course, that update did not include winter storms that hit the ODOT district on January 25 and February 1. Those storms together dumped a foot of snow on portions of Van Wert County, while the February 1 snowstorm alone was responsible for double-digit snowfalls in some of the northern counties that make up District 1.

As of January, ODOT had used 22,027 tons of salt and 134,819 gallons of salt bring. Those totals in Van Wert County were 2,473 tons of salt and 13,891 gallons of brine.

The most recent update showed that 32,147 tons of salt have now been used, as well as 644,588 gallons of brine.

In Van Wert County, 3,649 tons of salt have now been used and 70,410 gallons of brine – more than five times the amount listed in late January.

The good news is the district is just a bit over the average cost for snow and ice removal seen during the past 10 years. The average cost for winter snow and ice removal is $4.1 million.

This year’s total is also far below last year’s record snow and ice removal total of $8.7 million. To put things in perspective, by this time last year, 51,213 tons of salt had been used and $6.5 million spent on snow and ice control in District 1.