This may seem like a really silly question, but I can't seem to find an answer anywhere else...

I may be moving to South Dakota before too long, and was wondering if anybody could tell me if they treat their roads with salt in the winter.

They use a little bit of salt here in KC, but we don't often get enough snow to warrant it, so I usually don't have to worry much about rust.

So, anybody know if they use salt in SD?

Thanks!

 

I will check. I am thinking it is a salt sand mix of some sort. Next time I visit with someone from the DOT I will ask.

What part of South Dakota are you looking at?

 

Looking at Eastern SD. 3 towns in particular. Watertown, Brookings, and Vermillion. Nothing's said for sure, but my wife and I are trying to get an idea of what it would be like up there in case we do end up going there. Since I drive my 50 most days, and our family hauler is (or rather, will be, in Sept when our kid's born) a 66 merc, I'd like to know how worried I need to be about corrosion, and if we'll need to buy something less fun (but more practical) to haul around in (other than the 4x4 pickup we use on bad days now).
Another place we may end up is the Chicago area. I know they use a lot of salt there (lived there for a few years in the late 90's), but where I grew up (Oregon) they used sand.

 

The South Dakota DOT and most municipalities use a salt and sand mixture. Not near as heavy a concentraition of salt as some other states. Just make sure whatever you drive in the winter is undercoated well....

 

Thanks Dave. The Merc's in progress, but I plan on undercoating it with a rust inhibitor, and a rubberized undercoating. The 50 is already undercoated, so we're in good shape there. Thanks again for the info.

James

 

I live in western SD and I would not recommend driving a classic very much in the winter around here. There is a mixture of salt and sand (gravel if you ask my windshield) that is put on the roads when it snows.

 

In the cities, yes, salt. In the country, sand... Sioux Falls is terrible about their salt usage, but not as much elsewhere... You can always tell a vehicle that has spent many winters in Sioux Falls, by the rust... Other vehicles that are out away from there have next to no rust... I picked up a 79 F250 a while back that had one area of rust, over the fenderwells on the box, and that was about it. Many other vehicles I got while I lived out there same story, not much rust. Vehicles here in Iowa have way more rust...
One thing to remember, it can get too cold for the salt to work, so most of the time, they tend to use dark colored sand/ash to get the heat of the sun to do the melting.

 

Sweet! Thanks for this late breaking report. We will be headed to SD (unless something wierd happens) the beginning of next year (probably the second week of January). We still don't know where exactly, but it will not be in Sioux Falls. We're taking a trip up there this weekend to check out four places, and we'll see where things go from there. (We're headed to Brookings, Watertown, Vermillion, and Yankton btw.) Sounds like I probably won't have to worry about too much salt in any of these areas. Thanks!

Off topic: What's a "GMC Transform Your Ride Sale" ad doing in FTE? That seems wierd.

 

Brookings is not a bad town, but the pricetag is a bit high, Watertown is pretty good as well, but can't answer on price. Vermillion is another college town, and Ynankton isn't too bad, but I have no clue on the living there. Pricewise, probably higher, but it depends where you are at for pice as to what you consider high... Put it this way. I had a house out to Iroquois, cost $26,000, not a bad house. Same house in Brookings would be about $100,000.
Yankton and Vermillion will be more likely to use salt too, as they are further south. I was in the Huron-Brookings-Watertown area. Worked in Brookings for 5 years... I have been to Watertown a number of times. Depending what you are wanting, don't discount Aberdeen, that town has it going on, especially for being out as far as they are...

 

The ads are just to keep the lights on... I think its all a generic ad creator.

I think they use boulders on the roads up here... the Jeep gets a new windshield every May. The truck usually makes it two years between windshields.

 

Brookings and Yankton are nice towns. Vermillion doesn't impress me a whole lot.

If it wasn't for USD Vermillion wouldn't be missed.