I think that the Duluth area community could benefit from a reassessment of priorities in winter snow removal. Citizens expectations for road conditions are to high. People seem to get upset if the roads are not bare and clear 36 hours after a major ...↓storm. This is an unreasonable expectation and it should not be catered to. Meanwhile, pedestrians are walking in traffic lanes because sidewalks aren't cleared a week after a major storm. Shift funds from salting and overtime to sidewalk clearing. People will be angry, but I don't think it's a political risk if the priorities behind it are messaged plainly and clearly. Arterials need to be open, sure, but seeing piles of road salt scattered on tertiary roads in my neighborhood is a wasteful and harmful.↓
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Comment From:
Connie Fortin - Low Salt Strat fortin
2/27/26 @ 10:38 AM
I would like to see Low Salt Design recommended in this document and in all other chloride TMDLs issued in MN. It has emerged in 2022 as a strategy to advance infrastructure design for cold climates. It essentially improves winter performance, incre...↓asing safety through design and driving down our need for salt. If the Duluth area were to integrate Low Salt Design in new and redevelopment, it would increase winter safety, of roads, parking lots, sidewalks, trails (all of the areas we salt) and thus drive down the need for salt. With all of the winter safety challenges Duluth faces: the hilly topography, winter weather extremes, and climate change indicating a trend to more thaw/freeze cycles, and demand for good traction to accommodate the residents, students and visitors, winter maintenance strategies alone will struggle to reduce salt enough. Low Salt Design was included in MPCA stormwater manual in 2025 and should never be absent from the chloride TMDLs of today and the future. I would like to see Low Salt Design taught at UMD so that the engineers of the future start thinking about cold climate solutions. Here is a link for a free download of a Low Salt Design guide https://www.bolton-menk.com/news/get-your-own-free-copy-of-our-low-salt-design-guide/ which may be an addition resource for all to consider in addition to the MPCA stormwater manual section on Low Salt Design.↓
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Comment From:
David Carman
2/24/26 @ 7:47 AM
As a life-long trout fisherman with three toddler-aged grandchildren, I can live with less road salt on the roads and streets of Duluth in order to preserve and improve the sensitive fish populations of Duluth, which are already under considerable st...↓rain from global climate change and impervious surface warm water runoff..↓
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Comment From:
Jacob Pearson
2/23/26 @ 9:33 PM
I live next to Chester Creek. The plows often dump excessive amounts of salt, sometimes forming piles of salt on the road.
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Comment From:
Gray Eliason
2/18/26 @ 8:40 PM
The amount of salt used on roads here is WAY over the top!
Start protecting our precious Trout streams, wetlands. Not to mention the excessive salt use damages infrastructure and our vehicles.
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