Another Minnesota winter is upon us and—like every year—our communities and businesses rely on the public works professionals across the state to keep us moving safely despite the snow and ice. Without the dedication of the men and women clearing our roads at all hours and in all corners of Minnesota with little fanfare, our livelihoods and economy would literally freeze up. It’s like our good friend Burnsville Public Works Director Mark Ray often says, “Public works makes normal happen.”
In our ever-changing world, “normal” evolves from winter to winter, too. MnLTAP is all about sharing best practices and knowledge to make our transportation operations more effective, economical, sustainable, and efficient. So we’re pleased to feature a number of stories this season that highlight the cutting-edge efforts of those dedicated to ensuring our winter maintenance practices are always improving.
Smart winter salt use is increasingly critical to our well-being. Runoff carries salt into our watersheds, polluting our drinking water, poisoning aquatic life, and damaging infrastructure. Our coverage of the annual Salt Symposium and other new resources shed a light on everything from, well … light (designing roads to maximize sun exposure) to sheds (effectively storing salt). How we manage our winter salt use equates to how we manage the future of this land of 10,000 lakes, and our recent articles round up some of the latest ideas and strategies.
Although winter maintenance by our public transportation agencies is the top source of salt contamination, MnLTAP is also engaged in a project to leverage salt management lessons from public works for other users. Next year, we’ll be rolling out a new website with training and resources for property managers, homeowners, and contractors. We’re looking forward to this new approach to extend the good work of public works to others in our communities.
Have any winter tips to share? Drop us a line at [email protected] and stay safe out there this winter!