Do they salt the roads? Sidewalks? (Portland: real estate, apartment complex, house)

[psichick]

Or put down whatever that stuff is called?

With the freezing weather recently, I was wondering if the cities/counties/parks/etc put down anything to prevent ice on the roads or sidewalks? (I'm assuming it'd have to get colder than it has been to do that, but what do I know, hehe)

I'm assuming they don't, but I asked since my apartment complex put a note out talking about how they will put down ice melt if stairs/walkways freeze/ice. So, I figured I'd ask about general public areas.

This is more for me walking my dog, versus me driving, but figured it'd be good to know about both. I've never even seen "salt" on the ground, so I don't even know what it'd look like. And I'd rather not put booties on my dog if salting is uncommon.

Sorry for the stupid question, but I've never lived in weather this cold. And I know it doesn't snow often in PDX.

[oldtintype]

No salt, gravel. At least on roads.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

No salt, gravel. At least on roads.

Forgive me for not understanding. Do you mean, they don't lay salt, but they'll put down gravel? Or they don't put either down?

[Leisesturm]

Chemical de-icers are used in the city of Portland, but not salt (sodium chloride). Magnesium chloride or calcium magnesium acetate are used by the city on roads and streets. I'm not sure why that matters to someone concerned about their dog. Dogs don't spend much time walking on road surfaces, more pertinently, I don't know of any ordinances preventing property owners and/or commercial real estate management from using rock salt or calcium chloride on sidewalks and pathways so all bets are off. Check with a vet. That's what I'd do if I owned a dog.

H

[doggiemama]

I've gone on long walks with my dog when some salt-like/gravelly substance has been spread on the sidewalks and it didn't bother her. I do always wipe my dogs feet before coming in the house though. Are you concerned about chemicals?

[Hawk J]

Sometimes in the winter I put a little kitty litter on my steps, here on the mountain...

[Minervah]

Kitty litter works great. I sometimes put some on my steps on leading to my back door. No one else walks there but me so it doesn't bother anyone else.

[ccjarider]

I understand OP's concern regarding dog walking.
We came from midwest and lived in areas with heavy salt use, both on roads and sidewalks.

Exposure to the salt does can cause pain and injury to dog's feet. Many times, we had to clean salt from between the toes and there would be sores/cuts. One could tell the dogs sometimes experienced pain from the salt exposure.

I can tell you there is not enough salt exposure here in pdx to ever worry about it from a dog walking perspective.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by psichick

Forgive me for not understanding. Do you mean, they don't lay salt, but they'll put down gravel? Or they don't put either down?

They use gravel on the roads in most places, and some de-icer as mentioned.

[wanderbygrace]

If I recall right, they don't use salt, because it leeches into the waterways and causes havoc with our ecosystem. That's also the case in other areas of the country, but I know in places like the Midwest, the environment simply isn't that big of a deal, compared to out here.