# Why is river Road covered in a 1/8" of salt?! (Palisades Park)



## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

I did a quick ride after work today headed south past the GWB on the NJ side and made the left turn into the park....the entire road is covered with road salt. It is so bad that when cars pass by you can taste it in your mouth as it hangs in the air. You can't even see the pavement in parts and it's like riding on sand. I popped a u-turn at the first bend and headed back out via 9W. 

I guess their [dept of public works] idea was to dump 1/2" of salt all over the road and just wait the winter out? We're going to need some torrential downpours to flush this crap out. 

Has anyone been the length of the park recently? Is it like this all the way through?


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## joestralia (Aug 20, 2008)

I went through today. The salty part is only up to the first roundabout; the rest is clear. 

Still, better than the downed tree (after the first major climb) 2 weekends ago! That's been cleared already.


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## Trek_5200 (Apr 21, 2013)

They started salting Henry Hudson Drive this year. I don't recall that ever being done. I rode it last week on my gravel bike which solves the salt issue. Who knew the reason for 32 mm tires was to ride on salt?


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## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

Thanks guys.


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

I despise road salt. More so the liquid then solid, but both are used so carelessly. I have no problem using it sparingly when needed, but the road crews just dump it down like crazy. 
I think they do it to purge inventory so they can place another order to make their buddies in the salt supply business some extra cash.


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## Trek_5200 (Apr 21, 2013)

on my 23's thick rock salt makes me crazy. tires don't grip it so well. but fortunately on the wider tires it's like riding through loose dirt.


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## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

Trek_5200 said:


> on my 23's thick rock salt makes me crazy. tires don't grip it so well. but fortunately on the wider tires it's like riding through loose dirt.


it's not even the traction, it's just that the salt dust goes everywhere including mouth and eyes. a car passed me in the park and kicked up a bunch of salt dust. 

I don't have a winter bike so I was riding my summer best showstoppa yesterday. Otherwise I would have plowed on through.


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## D&MsDad (Jul 17, 2007)

Thanks for the heads up. I rode on River Rd this weekend, I wasn't surprised by the salt, thanks to this post. 


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## greg12666 (Mar 29, 2012)

Most of the salt has been cleared off by the cars. It really wasn't that bad.


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## D&MsDad (Jul 17, 2007)

greg12666 said:


> Most of the salt has been cleared off by the cars. It really wasn't that bad.


It was bad enough to cause a spill if you weren't paying attention. And I'm often not paying close attention on that section. Because it is fairly straight, and downhill, with little car traffic, it is usually a good place to refuel, which is what I'm often doing there (I'm coming from the North, so this is where I turn around to head back).

Which is why I thanked 9W for his warning - sorry that this was not as clear as it could have been.

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## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

Yeah I'm coming from the north as well, bombing down the hill butt over rear wheel. I slow down to merge safely into the park road and that part again is a bit of a downhill. I found myself braking on a decline before a turn.

Maybe it's gotten better since I was there but it's pretty bad. I mean, if a car passes by you can see and taste the salt in your mouth and around you, that's bad.


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