The roads this winter could be more dangerous than usual since road salt has nearly doubled in price. One ton of salt now costs $83, compared to $45 last winter.

Harsh weather conditions last winter caused a salt shortage which could occur this winter in DeKalb if conditions are similar and the budget runs out.

Rick Monas, director of Public Works for the City of DeKalb, said the city has a $210,000 budget.

The joint purchase program between DeKalb and the state requires the city purchase at least 70 percent of the salt requested, he said.

Bill Lorence, DeKalb County highway engineer, said this winter’s target is more than initially requested last year but lower than what was actually used.

The county initially ordered 8,500 tons of salt but ended up using 13,500 tons last winter. For this winter, the county ordered 11,500 tons.

The amount actually needed will depend upon this winter’s weather.

NIU Meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste said this winter should produce colder-than-average weather, but there is no scale yet on snowfall. As a low-confidence forecast, Sebenste said with the colder weather, there is some potential for heavier amounts of snow.

The large amount of snow removal completely depleted last winter’s salt supply. In previous years, salt was always cheap and in excess, but last winter required the use of the excess salt, Lorence said.

Many areas throughout the state are affected by the salt prices. Prices in LaSalle and DeKalb differ by $26 a ton, he said. In Peoria and Ottawa salt prices rose just $10.

With the already high demand for salt, prices rose even higher when salt mines flooded this spring. Lorence said the Illinois bidding practices also penalized many of the salt companies for delivering to the wrong locations or for late deliveries, which partly caused the rise in price.

Rising gas prices are also attributed to the rising costs since salt needs to be transported.

Lorence said the state is cutting back on the amount of salt it is spreading, too. Illinois now only salts interstate roads and may only salt after plowing, he said. The state used to salt almost 24/7. Now they will only salt roads for 15 hours per day, similar to DeKalb County.

It isn’t the amount of snow that matters, but it’s the number of times it actually snows, which can deplete salt reserves much quicker, Lorence said.

If DeKalb does run out of salt this winter, there are some other options the government has.

Lorence said sand and chips would be used instead of salt because it would at least create abrasion, but it wouldn’t melt the snow. Salt water would also be used.