Local public works officials say salt supplies are as tight as ever, despite warmer temperatures.

“I keep calling my supplier and they keep promising shipments,” Lisbon Public Works Director Elwood Beal said. “Sometimes they do actually come through. It’s frustrating, but there’s not a darn thing you can do about it.”

Lewiston and Auburn road crews should have just enough salt to make it through the winter.

“It’s really hand to mouth at this point, but we seem to be getting what we need,” Auburn Public Works Director Bob Belz said. “We are rationing what we have, so we should have just enough.”

In Turner, Highway Foreman Charlie Poland has received all the salt he will get for the year, he said. After Tuesday’s storm, he had a 75-ton supply left in storage.

“If we get an ice storm that’ll go really quick,” he said. “But we could handle four or five storms if they’re like this last one.”

Warmer temperatures have made salt less imperative to clearing the roads.

“We really just concentrate our salt on the intersections, hills and other trouble spots,” Lewiston Public Works Director Paul Boudreau said. “When it’s colder, we have to treat the entire road. It goes a lot faster when the sun breaks up the ice on its own.”

Crews are beginning to worry about wear and tear on their equipment. Auburn has four trucks out of service because of damage and one of Lewiston’s large snowblowers is out of service.

“This time of year, we start getting potholes and frost heaves,” Auburn’s Belz said. “Plus, the snow is so much heavier. It’s harder on the equipment.

With 21 storms so far this winter, crews are beginning to get weary.

“We’ve been running steady since Dec. 3, and we haven’t had any breaks or time to fix any trucks,” Turner’s Poland said. “There are just five of us and we’re going full time. We don’t have part-timers to replace us or give us a break.”

In Harrison, Road Commissioner Mike Thorne simply chuckled.

“They’re rough like everywhere else,” he said when asked about the condition of his roads Wednesday.

While downtown roads and sidewalks are fairly clean, back roads and sidewalks remain a problem, particularly with pot holes.

“We’ve been plowing after every storm, but we can’t keep up with them,” he said.

With a budget of $225,000, Thorne said the town is already $5,700 in the red due to overtime and the high costs for salt. Thorne said he expects to be over budget by as much as $25,000 by the time winter ends.

Regional writer Leslie Dixon contributed to this report.