Mayor Evans says city has enough salt for now, despite supply chain issues

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester Mayor Malik Evans says that, despite the rock salt supply issues that News10NBC has reported on for weeks, the city has enough salt for now.

American Rock Salt in Mount Morris, the main supplier of salt in the region, said this winter has stressed its supply chain because of unprecedented demand. That’s despite the mine producing more salt this year than it did all of last year.

Town leaders in Henrietta, Victor, and others have said their salt supply is running low. In addition, some local hardware stores have resorted to selling only water-softening salt instead of rock salt. Evans said the city will continue to get its salt orders filled despite the issues.

“The city has had enough salt to continue treating its streets. Our operations director has been in close communication with our supplier and they have assured us that they will continue to receive orders,” he said.

Evans said the city has backup plans in case they’re not able to get enough salt for streets and sidewalks. He said the main roads, especially near schools or bridges, get the most attention from plow trucks. Residential streets are plowed and salted when three inches of snow has fallen. Residential sidewalks are cleared after four inches of snow.

The mayor’s news conference comes as the First Alert Weather team is tracking snow for later this week. We’re tracking 1 to 3 inches of snow on Wednesday evening before it transitions to sleet, ice, and rain. We’re expecting more snow accumulation this weekend. You can see the latest forecast here.

Evans reminded drivers to reduce their speed when roads are icy and to leave room in between the car in front of you. Watch the full news conference on winter weather operations here: