Pittsburgh scraps plan for $6.9M salt storage unit amid budget crunch

A salt storage dome along Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood is so dilapidated there are holes in the concrete, the steel is corroding and the ventilation system stopped working.

“The building itself is a safety hazard,” said Chip Gaul, assistant director of the Department of Public Works.

But the city budget is in bad shape, too. City Council members on Wednesday said a $6.9 million salt dome replacement wasn’t going to get funding as they scrutinize every dollar being spent.

“When your budget is such a terrible situation, we have to look at everything,” said Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, whose district contains the battered salt storage unit. “To me, spending $6 million on covering salt is not the priority.”

Council unanimously tabled the bill Wednesday, citing financial pressures.

“As much as I wanted to see this salt storage facility replaced, that’s an expensive price tag,” Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said.

The city often struggles to plow and salt streets after snow. Some streets remained untreated days after snow blanketed the region Saturday.

Council members are still working to revise the 2026 spending plan after sounding alarms that the budget Mayor Ed Gainey pitched doesn’t properly account for all of the costs the city will incur next year.

Public works officials told council the salt dome is likely beyond repair. They requested nearly $7 million to tear down the structure and build a new one.

Tearing down the facility, Public Works Director Chris Hornstein estimated, would make up about $4 million of that cost.

Public works planned to stockpile the city’s supply of salt at the dome during the offseason. Without it, Hornstein warned, the city may not be able to keep as much salt on hand, meaning it would be more reliant on frequent deliveries.

But council members — faced with budget challenges they said have forced them to consider all city spending carefully — weren’t convinced it was a top priority when money is tight.

“You could really store salt under a tarp,” Kail-Smith said.