Hey #Ontario friends, take this chance to do something nice for the environment that is simple and fast! Right here is a petition to look into alternatives to road salt, which is toxic and polluting the Great Lakes. Given current #water issues, this is pretty important, I think.
https://saltcoalition.ca/#leaders
@ontario @OntarioNDP #GreatLakes #RoadSalt #Salt #Ice #WaterRights #FreshWater #WaterRestrictions
Road salt is a vile abomination that is a secret subsidy to the car industry. Learn to drive on snow and ice, require proper tires to drive on snow and ice, and most importantly give people reasons not to drive in snow and ice (oh look, back-to-office mandates!). Declare a fucking snow day sometimes. Adjust working hours to give plows time to work. There are places in this country where it is too cold for salt to even work. They still survive and function every winter, and so should we. Destroying the roads, the cars, the environment, and apparently lately even the electric grid, and spending millions to do it, is not an answer. It is madness.
I grew up and learned to drive in one of those parts of the province that are too cold sometimes for salt to be effective (up on the Arctic watershed), and it isn’t quite as simple as you might want to think.
In deep January cold, most roads were sanded rather than salted . . . but that only works if you’re dealing with snow rather than ice. The gravel gets incorporated into the snow as it packs down, resulting in a less-slippery surface (although it still isn’t great), but on ice, it slides right off. When you have to deal with ice during the slightly warmer periods, you need a melter. Guess what the cheapest one is? It also has one of the widest temperature ranges over which it remains effective, so it’s the most likely to work after an abrupt flash-freeze. They use a lot less salt up there than they used to, but the MTO still has to go through many tons of it every year to keep the highways open. Without it, it would be possible for some towns to be isolated for weeks.
Add to that, drivers who aren’t familiar with the conditions. Especially commercial drivers. Highway 11 has been having really awful problems lately with transport trucks being involved in various sorts of accidents. And to be honest, there tends to be a bit of a fender-bender period around November where some of the locals have to regain their winter driving skills.
There should probably be tighter guidelines on where, when, and how to use road salt, but completely eliminating it throughout Ontario is probably Not Practical right now.
(And by the way, that gravel? Also a pollutant of sorts that has to be cleaned up when the thaws come. On the highways it eventually becomes one with the gravel shoulders, but in town it has to be swept up and carted away so that it doesn’t block the storm sewers or anything like that. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.)
I understand that it is not as simple or practical as I would like it to be, but I am also saying we need to start making concrete steps towards making it more simple and practical by changing a lot of the really ignorant, short-sighted and stupid ways we do things because we seem to be convinced these are the only ways we can do things.
We need to make policy and infrastructure decisions that actually support sensible, sustainable goals besides just maximizing efficiency and therefore profit for companies that insist they are “providing jobs and important services” as if nobody else could or would figure out their own ways to do that if they weren’t deliberately taking up all the oxygen in the room to starve out any competition or actual innovation. Not every solution to every problem needs to be the cheapest fucking solution that ultimately only benefits huge corporations that have governments tripping over each other to give so many tax breaks to, that they don’t pay taxes anyway, so that we can have an economy designed to concentrate as much of our wealth as possible into the largest number of billionaires we can possibly make.
My point is we can choose to start doing things differently, start building an economy of sustainability and resilience, giving people back the local services and supplies that monopolistic “efficiency” has stolen from them so they don’t have to travel so far afield or rely on constant long-haul deliveries so much, pursuing different numbers that are more meaningful indicators of actual improvements to the lives of the people in this country.
Not that it would be in any way unusual for a Northern Ontario town to be isolated for several months a year.
6 Ontario Coroner’s inquiries have recommended mandatory winter tires in Ontario. They will be ignored because police in Ontario will not enforce this.
I’m pretty fedup with idiot pickup drivers in snow, and douchenozzles with $80,000 cars who can’t get a set of proper winter tires. Hilarious to see them stuck with those chunky brodozer tires, maybe take grade 10 physics and don’t buy a vehicle with all the weight over the wrong end, and learn what a differential does.
That reminds me of the people who think 4WD/AWD makes them safe to drive in snow. No, that only helps you go in snow and ice, and to a lesser extent, maneuver, but it specifically does nothing to help you stop which is absolutely the most safety-critical part. It does not make you safer. Arguably it makes you more dangerous, because now you can go without being able to stop. You’d be safer if you couldn’t go in the first place, at least you’re not a projectile careening out of control on ice.
@cecilkorik Exactly. Having lived in Edmonton for years, I *know* there is a better way. We need to give up wishing we were Vancouver.
And destroying our cars requiring more frequent replacement.
So true. I’ve never had a car die because of the engine or transmission suffering catastrophic failure, always because structural parts have rusted out. My last car, a 2000s Toyota, had 300,000 KMs and still ran like brand new but we had to scrap it because the body was so corroded the mechanic couldn’t safely put it on the lift anymore. Other place in the world have much older cars still running because they don’t use an insane amount of road salt, even other parts of Canada!
bi-annual rust inhibitor sprays prevent this.
They slow it down for sure, but there’s only so much it can do… salty shmoo can still get inside doors and rocker panels, get in the trunk lid, rot around the edges of the windows, get up inside the fender liners, all kinds of nasty places that it’s difficult (not impossible) to properly rust proof. Probably worth it, but most people can’t even be bothered with winter tires at this point…
Yup. I’m a mechanic, and I can easily spot cars that are only from 2-3 hours away where they use much less road salt. 15 year old cars from Vancouver look better than 1 year old cars here. Cars from Nova Scotia are even worse than here.
@Lemmyoutofhere Also, snowboots. I have lost a few fave pairs that poped out way before their expiry date because of having to trudge through constant salt. I get using *a bit* when it is icy to prevent falls, esp. on slopes or uneven ground, but the sheer amount used rn is ridiculous.
This is much needed, but im confused by all the municipalities signed on to the resolution that use insane amounts of salt on roads and sidewalks (like Toronto). Surely they have the ability to reduce salt usage before waiting for some lackluster action from the province
Reading it, it looks like they’re stuck on this point “This municipality urges the province of Ontario to work urgently with key stakeholders to develop limited liability legislation, including enforceable contractor training and a single set of provincially-endorsed standard BMPs for snow and ice management; and…”
I’m guessing liability reasons mean the first one to take a step and suggest we use a little less salt and increase our risk of injury is opening themselves up unless the provide sets mandated standards or direction.
Oh that actually makes a lot of sense, thank you!
@arielkroon @ontario @OntarioNDP
we always used sand in my hometown
I won’t tell you not to do this because it’s a genuinely great idea and we need a diversity of tactics.
But I’ll add that we should also start doing what we can to get Ford out of power because he has absolute power and has demonstrated he doesn’t give a fuck about the environment or what people have to say. If you have a conservative MPP, start spreading the word about why he needs to go. Start uplifting opposition. Do not be caught with your pants down when Ford calls another snap election at a self-serving time. Overwhelmed and need ideas? Print out a poster and stick if to a street corner, get to know your friends and neighbours and TALK to them.
