Cleveland is moving to make sure last winter's rock salt crisis does not happen again, with plans to purchase 14,000 more tons of salt and expand storage capacity before the snow starts falling this year. The city was forced to ration its supply in January after delayed shipments from supplier Cargill left crews prioritizing main roads over neighborhood streets, and officials now say they are determined to build up their stockpile earlier this time around.
Cleveland City Council approved $1.064 million for the general fund and another $1.064 million for a special revenue fund, bringing the city's total salt funding to nearly $2.13 million, according to Cleveland.com. That additional money is meant to push the city's salt inventory up to about 30,000 tons, according to the same report. Cleveland had budgeted roughly $4 million for salt in 2026, but the price per ton rose about $12 from the previous year, adding pressure to an already strained budget.
City Council President Blaine Griffin said the city needed to build up its salt supply earlier in the year rather than scrambling once snow was already falling, per the report. Cleveland is expected to have between 15,000 and 16,000 tons of salt on hand currently, short of the roughly 30,000 tons officials say the city needs to get through the rest of 2026. Even that target, the outlet notes, would amount to less than half of what Cleveland typically burns through in a normal winter, when the city can use around 70,000 tons of salt.
How Last Winter's Shortage Unfolded
The roots of this year's stockpiling push trace back to a rough stretch in January, when unusually heavy early-season snow overwhelmed the region's salt supply chain. Cleveland saw 34.4 inches of snow at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport through January 24 — the most through that date since the 2013-2014 season, according to Cleveland.com. Delayed deliveries from Cargill, one of Cleveland's key salt suppliers, forced the city to implement a plan that skipped salting on many side streets, the outlet reported.
Instead, the city stuck to prioritizing main streets, hills, dangerous intersections and areas near hospitals and schools, even as more shipments trickled in. Residential streets were still expected to be plowed during the shortage, but they might not have received salt treatment. Cleveland typically uses between 4,000 and 7,000 tons of salt per snow event depending on storm size, and crews were tasked with servicing roughly 3,000 lane miles across the city, according to Cleveland 19.
Reports on exactly how much salt Cleveland had left during the shortage varied. Fox 8 reported the city had about 10,000 tons of salt remaining, while News 5 Cleveland reported the city was down to less than 10,000 tons with 20,000 tons of ordered salt still undelivered, and Spectrum News 1 reported Cleveland had only 6,000 tons on hand after ordering 20,000 tons since August. The discrepancies reflect how fluid inventory counts were amid the crunch.
Cargill's Side of the Bottleneck
Cargill representatives attributed the delivery problems to an anomalous, early and severe start to the winter season that strained the entire regional supply chain, not just Cleveland's contract. The company told Cleveland.com it had delivered roughly 75% of the city's contracted salt volume for the year even though only 64% of the season and contract term had elapsed at that point.
Cleveland 19 reported that Cargill's mine had salt on hand to fulfill orders but could not move it out fast enough to meet demand, with workers operating the mine six to seven days a week on 12-hour shifts and loading hours stretched from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. The bottleneck created long lines of trucks stretching for miles outside the mine, the station reported. Cargill has since verbally committed to avoiding a repeat of last winter's delivery problems, though the specifics of that commitment were not detailed.
The state stepped in to help during the worst of it. The Ohio Department of Transportation provided Cleveland with 700 tons of salt — enough to fill about 70 trucks — to boost the city's inventory, according to Cleveland.com's report from late January. ODOT separately said it held 32,000 tons of salt on hand for District 12, which covers Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties, per News 5 Cleveland.
Neighboring Suburbs Felt It Too
Cleveland was far from alone. North Royalton ordered 1,000 tons from Cargill but received only 300 due to back-order issues, News 5 Cleveland reported, and the suburb had only about 400 tons in reserve while capable of burning through 1,500 tons over three snowy days, according to Fox 8. Strongsville said it would not salt residential streets at all during the shortage, and Spectrum News 1 reported that Avon, Mayfield Heights, Shaker Heights and Parma were also grappling with shortages.
Cleveland Heights had to borrow 150 tons of salt from another city just to get through a few days, Cleveland 19 reported, while University Heights, whose salt garage normally holds about 250 tons when full, said it did not know when its Cargill order would arrive.
Building More Storage For Next Time
Beyond simply buying more salt, Cleveland has also expanded where it can store it. The city built a new salt dome at its Glenville yard and refurbished four existing domes, with each dome capable of holding about 3,000 tons of salt, according to Cleveland.com's report. Cleveland has also covered its outdoor salt piles and is working with Cleveland Metroparks on additional storage space, moves officials say will reduce the city's dependence on last-minute deliveries during storms.
The funding push is also tied to unexpected revenue. Cleveland budgeted $18 million in EMS revenue for the year and had collected $16.7 million through the end of August, with officials projecting the final total will exceed the budgeted amount by about $1 million. That additional EMS revenue is expected to become available in October, and the city says it will be able to order more salt once the new budget takes effect.
