BELFAST – Swirling clouds of dust from winter road sand have left some in the city gasping for a breath of fresh air.

“What a dust bowl Belfast has become,” former Councilor Bonnie Becker told the City Council on Tuesday. “There’s got to be some other things we can look at to put on the roads.”

The city’s neighborhoods of narrow streets leading down to the harbor often create a wind tunnel effect when gusts whip through town.

The swirling dust can reach the tops of buildings. Though it is not uncommon for pedestrians to be blinded by blowing road sand any time of the year, the problem is more pronounced once the snow begins to melt and a winter’s worth of sand is sent aloft.

Becker said her yard and street were filled with sand, despite the fact that the street sweeper already had been by three times. She said people who want to be outside enjoying themselves this time of year are forced back indoors by the blowing particles of grit.

City Councilor Charlotte Peters agreed that the city has “a terrible dust problem.” She suggested that the city investigate what other towns are doing to keep down dust.

Alan Fauts, owner of a downtown building, observed that “dust is an absolute curse; it’s astonishing how much of that stuff will climb up 23 stairs.”

Fauts added that the grit came with the territory and commended the city’s public works department for its efforts at keeping the streets free of snow and sand.

Tuesday was the warmest day of the year so far, and many residents threw open their windows, were out raking leaves or just taking walks.

Condon Street resident Nancy Hauswald told the council she had been talking on the telephone to a friend when a “cloud of dust wafted into my window and onto my table.” Hauswald noted that “I’m no Martha Stewart,” but she still managed to sweep up a bag full of fine sand.

“I can’t believe there isn’t a better way to treat the streets,” she said.

Public Works Director Wes Richards said the number of storms this winter was above normal and the amount of sand spread increased accordingly.

“We’re all aware of the dust,” Richards said, adding that the city’s street vacuum machine does not work in cold conditions. He said downtown streets need to be swept in the early morning hours before businesses open and the streets are filled with parked cars.

Richards said the city recorded 41 instances where the sanders were used this past winter, compared with 16 in 2002.

“You sand twice as much, and you’re going to get twice as much sand,” he said.

Richards said a mechanical sweeper could do a better job on sand, but the city made the decision to switch to a vacuum sweeper in the mid-1990s because it could be used for multiple purposes, such as cleaning catch basins and picking up leaves.

A mechanical sweeper, he said, would cost anywhere from $90,000 to $140,000.

Richards noted that Camden uses a vacuum sweeper, but it also does not use sand downtown, preferring instead to use salt in the business district. Rockland has two mechanical sweepers and a vacuum, he added.

The city spent $33,000 on sand this winter and $61,000 on salt. The public works director said it would cost $128,000 alone to treat all the roads inside the U.S. Route 1 bypass with salt during an average winter.

Charles Street resident Becker described the swirling sand as a health problem and implored the council to try to find a suitable solution to the problem before next winter.

“I cannot live with this any longer,” she said.