By Tom Davidson
SHARON — Health junkies have long preached that using less salt and eating more vegetables is better for you. Turns out, it might be better for wintry roads too.
Sharon Mayor Bob Lucas said he first learned on the Internet last year about mixing beet juice with road salt to treat roads. It’s something several Northeast Ohio cities including Akron have done, and Lucas proposed that Sharon experiment with it this winter.
The city now uses salt sprayed with calcium chloride that works at temperatures as frigid as minus-10 degrees Fahrenheit. Mixing the salt with beet juice can extend the effectiveness to colder temperatures, plus the sticky mixture is supposed to work longer and be less harsh on roads and cars, Lucas said.
It’s supposed to reduce salt use by half, Lucas said.
The natural alternative also washes off cars and the road easier, he said.
This winter the city is going to treat 100 tons of salt — about one snowfall’s worth of the stuff — with beet juice and use it on some of the roads. On others, the usual mixture will be used.
If it works as good as it’s supposed to, the city will make the switch to beet juice, Lucas said.
“It’s worth a shot to look at,” Lucas said.
The juice is a byproduct after sugar has been extracted from sugar beets.
