ODOT buys salt to help counties with prices

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

State transportation officials will spend more than $18 million to help replenish salt supplies in counties hit hard by wintery weather earlier this year.

The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to buy up to 171,600 tons of road salt from an Indiana company, at a price of about $105 per ton. The supplies will be shipped to ODOT facilities on barges, via three Lake Erie ports, said Steve Faulkner, ODOT spokesman.

The cost is well above the $35 per ton counties paid, on average, last year. According to an emergency purchase declaration published by ODOT, “The supply of available road salt is rapidly dwindling, and costs continue to rise exponentially with the passage of time.”

“You’re looking at prices two to three times higher in many cases,” Faulkner said.

Faulkner said the state will have about 700,000 tons of salt on hand for the start of the winter driving season, and many counties were able to procure their own supplies at costs of $50 to $80 per ton.

ODOT sought bids for 25 counties that faced inflated salt prices — for example, $164.69 per ton in Defiance County, and $146.18 per ton in Mahoning County.

Four counties (Ashtabula, Portage, Columbiana and Jefferson) were able to lock in prices of $102 to $108, Faulkner said. The remaining 21 counties will be covered by ODOT’s latest emergency purchase order.

ODOT used more than 1 million tons of salt last winter. That compares to an average of about 630,000 tons in past years.