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Icy St. Louis side streets to be treated with salt-sand mixture

A city worker clears a sidewalk of ice and slush on Market Street in St. Louis on Feb. 1, 2011. Some city side streets which remain badly iced over will begin to be treated with a salt and sand mixture today. (UPI/Bill Greenblatt)
A city worker clears a sidewalk of ice and slush on Market Street in St. Louis on Feb. 1, 2011. Some city side streets which remain badly iced over will begin to be treated with a salt and sand mixture today. (UPI/Bill Greenblatt)

St. Louis neighborhoods will be getting some relief from ice-covered side streets resulting from last week's blizzard.

The City of St. Louis Streets Department received over 250 requests for service this morning.

Streets Director Todd Waelterman says 50 crews are out spreading a mixture of sand and salt on some of the worst areas.

"Salt won't do a lot right now at this temperature today, but the sands mixed in will provide a little traction, and when we see these slightly warming temperatures tomorrow, that could rise above freezing…it will really activate the salt and we'll try to get this moving a little faster," Waelterman said.

Waelterman says the city has had to use an unprecedented amount salt this winter which has put an additional strain on an already-tight city budget.