To study the consequences of reducing the use of salt on icy roads, within the MINSALT project, the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea has been used as a test area with unsalted roads. This report presents the results concerning different road users opinions about salt and about the consequences of taking it away. This has been investigated with a series of questionnaires to pedestrians, cyclists, private car drivers and professional drivers. The control area has used salt all three winters. The results show that the road users at Gotland, after having tried unsalted roads, do not want it back. The opinion becomes more negative towards salt after living without it. The typical opinion is that one should stop or reduce the use on all kinds of streets and roads. Unsalted roads were also shown to reduce the problems with dirt on shoes and vehicles. The use of studded tyres did not increase due to reduction of salt.
Abstract