As another snowstorm blows across central Illinois, road crews are busy clearing streets in Charleston.

But with a recent spike in the price of road salt and a shrinking salt supply, that process may take longer than usual.

“The road conditions aren’t going to clear up as quickly,” said Quincy Combs of the Charleston Street Department. “We’ve really had to conserve (salt).”

Before last year’s snow season, one ton of road salt cost $49, Combs said.

At the beginning of this season, that price had climbed to $90.50 per ton and is now near $168 per ton.

To reduce salt use, Combs said the city is salting only targeted streets and intersections.

“We salt stop-intersections and main arteries,” Combs said. “That’s all the salting we’re doing this year.”

Those arteries include Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Streets, as well as Polk, Madison, and University Avenues, Combs said.

State highways running through Charleston, like Route 16, are cleared by state road crews, he said.

Salt industry groups blame the price increase on high demand last winter and lock-and-dam closures on the Mississippi River.

“Last year’s heavy snows and high salt demands left both customers and salt miners tapped out,” said Richard Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute trade association in a 2008 press release. “(Salt shipping) has been interrupted this year with four weeks of lock-and-dam closures on the Upper Mississippi.”

But some municipalities dispute those claims and several, including Oak Park and Forest Park filed a complaint with Attorney General Lisa Madigan in September, claiming salt suppliers colluded to raise prices.

Whatever the cause of the price hike, Charleston remains faced with a limited salt supply to last through winter.

Combs explained that the state of Illinois, not individual cities, bids on salt each year.

“Usually, we petition for a certain amount of salt per year, and the state bids on it,” Combs said.

Getting those requests filled is increasingly hard and most salt suppliers are sold out, Combs said.

“There’s been a huge shortage . most of the salt has been spoken for by the state of Illinois,” Combs said. “We are lucky that we had 600 tons of salt in stock at the start of this year.”

Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7945 or at