If drivers detect the scent of a college dorm room on Howard County roadways this winter, it might be the salt truck they're behind.

On the plus side, their ride might be safer.

A new molasses-based substance being tested on county roadways this season "smells like really old coffee and cigarettes," according to State Highway Administration spokesman Charlie Gischlar.

Ice Bite, a product made from sugar beet molasses, will be mixed with salt brine to treat roads before snow and ice storms, in an effort to help salt better adhere to the pavement.

SHA officials are piloting the product on state-maintained roads, ramps and bridges in Howard and Frederick counties this winter.

Ice Bite was not used to prepare for last weekend's snowfall, Gischlar said, adding that a large shipment of the product, made by Indianapolis-based Road Solutions Inc., arrived in the state Dec. 7.

It also was not used to prepare roads for nighttime precipitation Dec. 8, which consisted mostly of rain, and thus would have washed the product off the roads, Gischlar said.

State officials tout Ice Bite as a natural and biodegradable supplement to crews' ice-combating arsenal. Ice Bite is mixed into salt brine tanks so that more of the salt sticks to the road pavement, rather than scattering, when deployed by salt trucks, Gischlar said.

The result should make salt application more effective and save money, he said, adding that Ice Bite has been used with positive results in Virginia, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio and Iowa.

The molasses in the product should not attract animals into the roads as it is the bitter byproduct of de-sugared beets. "It does not appear to be appetizing to anything," Gischlar said.

He added that the molasses is designed to make the salt brine solution less viscous, and is not designed to stick to tires and vehicle undercarriages.

"This is a pilot, so we're going to be evaluating its effectiveness to make decisions about its usage," he said. "We're always trying new things and hopefully we'll be expanding this to the rest of the state."

SHA chose to pilot Ice Bite in Howard and Frederick in part because one of the administration's engineers assigned to the two counties conducted the research on the product, and also because the interstate system through the region will allow SHA to measure the product's effectiveness, Gischlar said.

"We're very excited about this," he said. "It looks like it's really going to be successful on our highways."

The state has spent $13,000 to purchase 6,000 gallons of Ice Bite at a cost of $2.17 a gallon. Plans are to mix 1,200 gallons of Ice Bite with every 8,000 gallons of salt brine.

Statewide, the SHA spent $52.9 million on winter operations and used 222,230 tons of salt last year. This year, the department has budgeted $26 million for its winter operations and has 332,618 tons of salt available.

Too pricey for county

Jim Irvin, director of the county's Public Works department, said the county is not currently considering using Ice Bite.

"It's still in the experimental stages; the state is trying it out," he said. "Salt is great as ice melt, but it has its drawbacks, environmentally, so anything that might lessen that impact is worth considering."

Irvin said Ice Bite's potential drawbacks are cost and the question of whether it is effective at the same temperature range as the salt and other chemicals it's used in conjunction with.

Irvin said he was unsure how Howard was selected as a pilot site for Ice Bite.

"I guess there was a lottery and we won, or lost," he said, with a laugh.

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