Street Beets

The vegetable you hated as a kid may keep your car from sliding off icy roads this winter.

Akron is experimenting with a de-sugared beet solution to deice roadways. According to Akron Public Works Bureau Manager Paul Barnett, when beet juice is mixed with calcium chloride and rock salt brine, the beet enhances their properties, lowering the temperature at which salt is effective from about 17 degrees Fahrenheit to 60 degrees below zero.

What's more, the beets in the concoction (known commercially as GeoMelt) reduce the corrosive properties of salt, making it less harmful for roads and cars.

"The beets also allow the salt and the calcium chloride to stick to the road better and last longer, allowing us to save money with fewer applications over the course of winter," Barnett says. Last year, the city of Akron spent about $4 million on snow and ice removal.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has been using GeoMelt on state roads and highways in Summit, Mahoning, Portage and Stark counties, as well as some southern Ohio counties, says Scott Varner, deputy director of communications. "The hope is that in using GeoMelt, we reduce the amount of salt needed, which would not only be more cost effective but also better for the environment," he says.

And if you're concerned your white BMW 3 Series will turn — dare we say it — beet red every time GeoMelt hits the streets, don't worry. Barnett says the solution is the color and consistency of watery maple syrup and washes off easily.