Salt doesn't work on dirt roads, so how do crews maintain icy, unpaved roads?

WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – Road crews in Washtenaw County have the salt ready for Wednesday's ice storm, but that salt isn't effective in maintaining unpaved roads.

RELATED: When does salt work, and when does it not?

Nearly half of the county's roads are gravel and dirt, so the road commission has a plan in place to make sure the streets are taken care of when the freezing rain hits.

"We don't want to melt that top layer of that road. We actually want to keep it frozen but not icy," said Emily Kizer, with the Washtenaw County Road Commission.

To accomplish that, sand is used on dirt roads to provide traction.

Unpaved Washtenaw County roads will be handled once crews finish handling the roads that need to be salted.