It is designed to work faster, be greener, and avoid wastage. Salt lowers the freezing point of moisture on the road, but it takes the action of car tyres to dissolve it into the surface to make it work most effectively and that's why wetted salt should work faster. It will be tested on spreaders in parts of Hampshire from November onwards including much of East Hampshire, the Meon Valley and Winchester. As part of its annual review of its actions for dealing with snow and ice, and as a result of public feedback, the County Council is also looking into the provision of public salt bins as a self-help measure and increased treatment of the footway network. Councillors had to accept, however, that no amount of salting can overcome the laws of physics which led to problems between 18 and 21 December last year when the county experienced exceptionally severe weather, with Arctic temperatures of minus nine and freezing rain.
Salt is less effective for de-icing when temperatures plunge below minus five degrees.
Freezing rain is rare but creates the worst conditions for driving and is extremely difficult to deal with. As part of last year's review the County Council made sure its criteria for pre-salting roads was consistent across the county. First priority is given to the most important parts of the network, which carry around 80 per cent of all traffic. Councillors who discussed the issue at today's Roads and Development Sub Committee acknowledged the concerns of members of the public, especially in the Test Valley area, and backed the policy for 'spot' salting. Spot treatment is carried out on known trouble spots on priority 2 routes or areas reported to be in urgent need of treatment.