City of Helena Winter Streets Pilot Projects & Policy Comment Form

Your comment is considered public record and will be available for viewing by the mayor, commissioners, and by members of the public.

1.) Ice-Slicer - Ice Melting Product

• The city plans to use only a minimal amount of ice-melt product on the most icy spots, particularly on downtown hills.
• We will not use the product during a storm, or the product would be plowed away with the snow.
• The product we are trying on the street for melting ice and snow is called Ice Slicer. It’s a naturally occurring complex chloride ice melter with synergistic trace minerals plus sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium chlorides and grit. Ice Slicer is a very low corrosive ice melt.
• Due to its hard crystalline structure, Ice Slicer can provide immediate traction whenever applied. Some users refer to it as “dissolving sand” because it doesn’t leave high volumes of residues as it breaks down.
• With naturally occurring trace minerals and very low alkalinity, Ice Slicer is also less harmful to roadside vegetation.
• Ice Slicer’s natural brown color enables it to use the sun to provide additional melting power. It dissolves slowly and stays on roadways longer to help prevent freezing of new snow or ice so it is more effective over a longer period of time than ordinary salt.  

2.) Plow curb-to-curb on major routes

As a voluntary program, we are asking people who normally park in the following areas to move their vehicles during snow events, and for 24 hours following, so our plows can get to the curbs.

• 6th Avenue - between Rodney & North Montana
• 11th Avenue - between Rodney & North Montana
• Broadway Avenue - between Rodney & North Montana

Door hangers were distributed with this information on those streets on the afternoon of December 28, 2018, and will be distributed again as a reminder.

When plowing curb-to-curb, property owners will see higher piles of snow, and may experience some blocking of driveways. Our drivers will do their best to avoid that; when we experience large snow events without time for snow to melt in between, we simply have nowhere else to put the snow, particularly if we are plowing to the curb.

3.) Other Related Policies

Policy-related comments such as emergency snow route designations, and other operational comments.