Transportation department has used twice as much salt as last winter

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A record November snow storm and a weekend ice storm that knocked out power to a chunk of the state forced the state transportation department to use twice as much road salt already as it did all of last winter, when weather was milder.

In all, the Missouri Department of Transportation has used 240,000 tons -- which is enough to cover the yearly table salt demand of Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Tennessee.

Department spokesman Jeff Briggs said the state uses 240,000 tons of road salt in a typical winter.

"We've hit where we are in a typical winter already with the potential for a lot of winter ahead of us," he said Friday.

Some parts of the state are expected to get snow again this weekend.

Briggs said the department has spent about $26 million on road salt, which comes from its general maintenance fund. He said no budget adjustments have been necessary so far but that could change depending on the severity of the rest of winter.