Another Quebec town turns to beet juice to battle icy roads

The town of Cowansville, Que., is taking a slightly different approach when it comes to salting icy roads this season.

In an effort to reduce its ecological footprint, the municipality in the Eastern Townships has added a little beet juice into the mix, which ismeant to savemoney and protect the environment.

"The beet juice is sprayed directly on the salt," saidSylvain Perreault, infrastructure superintendent for the town.

"A portion of thebeet is given to the animals. The rest is used to deglaze roads."

By mixing beetjuice with ordinary roadsalt,the municipalityuses less salt overall and minimizes its environmental impact.

The sticky mixture keeps salt on the roads, which reducesrun-off. It has also proven effective in the United States at helpingrock salt melt ice below its 9 Climit.

When sprayed before a storm, a thin layer of beet juice will keep the ice from bonding with the road surface. It is, moreover,less corrosive than other salt-chemical mixtures.

Veggie power

Transports Qubec has been using the product on a stretchof Highway 20 in the Lower Saint Lawrence since 2010, when it initiated a pilot project. Other towns have used beet juice, too, including the village of Matagami, 800 kilometres north of Montreal.

Last year, the City of Laval introduced a pilot project involving the extract of white beets in an effort to cut down on the cost of snow removal services and make themmore environmentally friendly.

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Toronto and Halifaxhave also looked at using beetsto keep their roads clear.

In total, Cowansvilleestimates it will use 30 per centless salt this year as a result of thenew method.

The project cost about $20,000 to install the necessary equipment, aninvestment that they expect to recoverin less than two years.

"For the moment, it's very conclusive. Especially in cold weather, we noticed a lot of positive effects, on dirt roads or gravel too," saidPerreault.