ST. PAUL 鈥� The Minnesota Department of Transportation spent a record $174 million to keep state highways clear of snow and ice for the brutal winter of 2022-23, the most severe winter in the past decade according to a new report released Thursday.
And that total doesn鈥檛 include cities, counties or townships costs to clear their roads and streets.
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MNDOT officials said it was not only the most money ever spent to keep state roads clear of ice and snow, but was fully 25% above the most recent five-year average.
Statewide, an average of 90.2 inches of snow fell last winter. But in Northeastern Minnesota, the average was 112 inches, while Duluth received an all-time record 140.1 inches, crushing the old record of 135.4 inches set in 1996-96 and 64% more snow than the average 86 inches that falls each winter.
Meanwhile, St. Louis County officials Thursday said the county also spent a record amount to clear its 3,000 miles of roadway 鈥� roughly $7.2 million for labor and materials.
鈥淭his was an extremely challenging winter season, but our crews worked tirelessly to conquer each storm and keep travelers safe and moving in Minnesota,鈥� Nancy Daubenberger, state transportation commissioner, said in a statement released with the report. 鈥淢nDOT has more than 1,600 snowplow operators that drive 800+ plows each winter, and we are grateful to Minnesotans for their patience and safe driving during tough winter conditions."
Combined, MNDOT snowplow drivers worked more 850,000 regular and overtime hours over the winter 鈥� over 100,000 hours more than the previous winter season.
To keep 30,027 lane miles of highway open, MNDOT used 260,380 tons of salt, 14.14 million gallons of liquid brine 鈥� the most ever 鈥� and 36,439 tons of sand.
鈥淟iquids are changing the game when it comes to snow and ice operations," said Jed Falgren, MNDOT state maintenance engineer. "By adding liquid to rock salt as we apply it to the road, it activates that salt faster and helps the material stay in the driving lane. That helps us clear roads faster, and we need less materials to achieve those results."
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The full report is available at dot.state.mn.us/maintenance/winter-report.html.
In North Dakota, the Department of Transportation spent $40.6 million maintaining the roads across the state from Oct. 1, 2022, through April 30, 2023. That's nearly twice as much when compared to the five-year average of about $23.7 million, the NDDOT said.
This story was updated at 1:40 p.m. July 27 to include St. Louis County snowplowing numbers. It was originally posted at 10:40 a.m. July 27.
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