>In the meantime, I'm gonna find out if Bend uses salt of any sort
>on the roads.

The salt Bend applies to roads is liquid magnesium chloride. It is applied to
pavement before a snow/ice event - if there is an opportunity - to prevent ice
from binding to the pavement. (It also makes the pavement feel "greasy".)

During/after a storm, they spread a crushed basalt gravel as a traction aid.
Vehicles pound it into a very fine, poofy talcum or cement-like powder. Kinda like
the volcanic ash from Mt. St. Helens when it erupted back in 1980.

This past Winter was the first year for the crushed basalt, it was an experimental
alternate to the red volcanic cinders which have been used forever and are still
used by the county and state (there is an endless supply). As the area has grown,
the red, abrasive cinder dust has become an air pollution issue in the city.

Vern