ROCHESTER, Minn. - Seeing blue road salt might be a new norm in Rochester.

That's because Rochester Public Works Department is using it to make sure they don't use too much. Too much salt on the roads can have environmental impacts, so they're using salt with a blue dye in it so they can see when and where it's applied.

Brian Jones drives from Byron To Rochester for work. He says on icy days like Monday, there's not such thing as too much salt.

"The more they put down the better because it's going to continue to come so I mean you might as well put as much down as you possibly can," Jones said. "That way it just makes it safer for everybody driving."

Jones said actually seeing the salt on the road makes him feel safer as a driver.

"I don't know much about the chemical difference but it at least to me, if I'm driving and I see [it] then at least I know it's on there," Jones said. "So I feel a little bit safer."

Plows hit priority areas first like main roads, bus routes, and central business districts before hitting residential areas.

Salt is typically effective on pavement when it is above 15 degrees. For anything colder than that, Public Works uses a salt-sand mix.