Road commission prepared for winter

St. Joseph County Road Commission Manager John Lindsey said the agency has more than 5,000 tons of salt on hand and is ready for another Michigan winter.

In addition, the Centreville-based department has on its premises 7,500 tons of a road-ready application of sand-salt mix, prepared at a ratio of three parts sand, one part salt. This year’s salt supply was purchased at $66 a ton, down from about $70 a ton a year ago. The road commission uses about 13,000 tons of sand/salt mix per winter.

Assessing the road commission’s level of preparedness for the coming months, Lindsey said the agency has 25 plow routes that cover 1,022 miles of roadway.

To date, the agency has had trucks on the road just once this winter: Nov. 28.

Lindsey, a St. Joseph County Road Commission employee since 2010, said on average, an eight-hour, snow-clearing shift on a weekday costs about $37,000; $42,000 on Saturdays; and $46,000 on Sundays.

Each truck, meanwhile, has a 14-ton capacity.