Around here, salt is the prefered road treat ment, for 2 reasons:
1) Our ancient storm sewers (circa 1880) have many sharp bends, which get silted closed with sand, and
2) We sit about 30 miles north of the world's largest mineable salt dome.
Road salt is an effective and inexpensive ice and snow melter, but it does tend to turn heavy accumulations of snow into a grey, semi-gelatinous slop, as well as corrode steel frames (bike and automobile alike).
You should experience biking through the snow-salt slop on a cold, snowy morning, and getting pelted by salt as the plow/spreader passes you! Fun!!
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