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Aurora To Cut Back On Salting Roads For Rest Of Winter

AURORA, Ill. (CBS) -- Illinois' second largest city plans to be a little more miserly with its road salt supplies for the rest of the winter.

WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports Aurora officials said the city is running out of road salt, as many other towns might be due to the heavy snowfall so far this season.

Spokesman Dan Ferrelli said Aurora salt spreaders have been out 2 1/2 times more often this winter than the last two years combined at this point, so there'll be changes to how Aurora trucks clear streets.

Salt will be spread on main streets, but not side streets.

"While we're still going to plow the residential areas, and make them drivable, we are going to be extremely conservative in the use of salt," Ferrelli said.

Ferrelli also said motorists can help make the roads safer, even with less salt on the ground.

"Slowing down goes a long way in keeping people safe," he said.

Ferrelli said salt deliveries have been slow since last month, while the city has used more than 13,500 tons of salt so far this winter.

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