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RIPLEY - Local road commissions are getting ready for the really heavy stuff yet to come.

Funding shortages are a concern for most local governments in Michigan, and Kevin Harju, Houghton County Road Commission engineer, said the cost for road salt this winter at $44.76 per ton is up 16 percent from last year when salt cost $37.93 per ton.

"I would say a majority of (the price increase) is fuel related," Harju said.

However, Harju said the Houghton County Road Commission uses a mixture of 3 percent salt to 97 percent sand, which it acquires locally, on the roads it maintains.

"We use very little straight salt," he said.

On average, Harju said crews use about 400 tons of salt and about 18,000 tons of sand.

Harju said 24 full-time drivers and four seasonal drivers plow snow from 750 miles of roads in Houghton County. There are another 100 miles of seasonal roads, which get gravel in the summer, but aren't snow plowed in the winter.

Although fuel prices have been dropping recently, Harju said that cost is still a concern for this year, although it may not be as bad as last year, which was the financially-worst on record for the road commission due to the duration of the snowfall.

"It started early and lasted late," he said.

Last winter, Harju said the Houghton County Road Commission spent $2.2 million, which was about $400,000 more than average.

"That's mostly attributed to the cost of diesel fuel, material costs and the duration (of the winter)," he said.

Because of funding shortages, Harju said some of the road commission vehicles are getting old, which is a concern for him.

Gregg Patrick, Keweenaw County Road Commission engineer, said the salt and sand situation there is set for the winter.

"We're stockpiled as usual," he said.

Patrick said the road commission used to get its road sand from the Gay area, then truck it to the storage area in Mohawk. Now they get road sand from the New Allouez area, which means it has to be trucked less than half the distance, saving the department on fuel costs.

Patrick said funding for equipment has been reduced about 4 percent, which is a concern for him.

"It's a little bit dicey," he said. "We're at status quo. We haven't purchased any new equipment."

Patrick said he's hoping fuel prices continue their downward trend, which will help reduce his costs for the winter.

"We're watching the fuel prices," he said. "If they stayed the same as during the summer, that would have been difficult."

Mike Maloney, Ontonagon County Road Commission engineer, said crews plow 570 miles of county roads and 163 miles of state trunkline roads. Because they plow state roads, they also get salt from the state.

"We don't have all our state salt yet," Maloney said. "We expect it by the end of the week."

Maloney said crews there also mix salt with sand at about 3.5 or 4 percent salt. The two are mixed because sand holds moisture and salt prevents that moisture from freezing.

Equipment conditions are a concern for him, also, because of a 4.5 percent decrease in funding, Maloney said.

"Our equipment is another year older," he said. "That's always an issue."

Maloney said at least there is some good financial news concerning fuel.

"It's great the price of fuel has come down," he said. "(But) I don't believe it's going to go down a tremendous amount more."

Budgeting for winter road maintenance is a sort of guessing game, Maloney said, because in autumn it's hard to know how mild or severe the coming winter will be.

"You don't know where you are until you get out of it," he said.

Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com.