The significance of the issue is not lost on Poland’s cash-strapped city halls. Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, for one, has suggested that her transport officials should find a cheaper and more effective alternative to salting the capital’s roads.
Quite what that alternative should be remains unclear, however, as most other de-icing substances are significantly more expensive, according to Tadeusz Godlewski of the Road and Bridge Research Institute. Speaking to the Polish Press Agency, he noted that salt works well to -7° C, but quickly becomes less efficient at colder temperatures. Pricier solutions are then required, but even these are used sparingly in Europe and often mixed with more affordable substances.
...Businesses appear to be on their own, to some extent. But some cities have made magnanimous gestures to alleviate the burden on individuals at least. Kraków offered free public transport during the worst of December’s snow and heating braziers were set up at tram stops around the city, although this was little more than a stopgap measure.
