New Road Treatment Cheaper, Better

Town officials are please with a new road pre-treatment used before storms that keeps the roads cleaner and makes snow cleanup easier.

"Mayor Scott D. Jackson and Hamden Public Works Director Craig Cesare are pleased to announce the introduction of a new winter road treatment product for the town of Hamden," the two said in a release this week.. The town recently switched to the new product called ClearLane Enhanced Deicer, which they say is proving to be a more effective and efficient product for the Department of Public Works following its use in the last storm.

Pre-treating the roads is an important part of snow plowing, but using traditional products such as sand and salt are costly and can be inefficient, which led Cesare to expore alternatives. 

"ClearLane, which has a more accurate distribution method than traditional mixtures, allows for a minimal amount to be used while still providing the safest conditions possible," he said. "The product works at colder temperatures than salt and allows for less sand to be used, which then saves the town from having to clean significant amounts of sand from every road in the spring.

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"The town began using an improved deicing product last year, which was a significant improvement from salt and sand. This new product allows for better pre-treatment of the roads, without costly retrofitting of Town vehicles originally planned, providing a safer road and less cost."

ClearLane also has a lower corrosion rate than rock salt and is more environmentally friendly, having been designated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as a "Design for Environment" product.

“Making our roadways safe is always our top winter priority. To be able to do this effectively and within budget, all while reducing the negative impact to vehicles and the environment, is a great step,” Jackson said.

West Hartford has been using this product since 2009, and other cities and towns are following suit, Jackson said, and those have saived between 20 to 40 percent in treatment costs.

“Last winter was the first year we used roadway deicer and it was deemed a success," Cesare said. "We have upgraded to this product in our effort to continually improve our pre-treatment efforts.”