CORNWALL – Checking the weather forecast is one thing, but road conditions can be quite different on the city’s asphalt streets and boulevards.
The city is hoping to improve on its winter road clearing plan by spending nearly $75,000 on a road weather information system.
The system uses pucks buried in the asphalt and on the surface of the road to measure the road surface temperature and heat balance, allowing road crews to decide whether to use salt or an anti-icing brine.
The sensors are “the only way to effectively predict the high likelihood of black ice,” says a report before city councillors tonight (Monday).
The contract is expected to go to a Richmond Hill, Ont. company for $74,269.25.
It was one of two companies to bid on the contract – the other from Concord, Ont.
It’s slightly more than the $70,000 the city budgeted this year for the system.