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Busy Weekend On Maryland Roads

By: Matt Bush // December 17, 2010
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The state highway administration is getting ready to treat roads should the weather forecast call for it on Sunday. And the products they'll be using can be found in a jar of pickles or in a bottle of blackstrap rum.

Charlie Gischlar, a spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration, says the concoction used on the roads will vary by location.

"We'll be using the salt brine solution in the Washington D.C. suburbs, southern Maryland. And out west, we'll be using a mixture, an 85-15 mixture of the salt brine and sugarbeet molasses solution. The sugar beet molasses pretty much makes it adhere to the road a little longer," he says.

But Gischlar adds nothing will be used if snow is predicted to miss the area.

And while an ingredient used to make rum could be on the road, police are asking anyone who may consume rum or any other alcohol to take a cab.

Officers in Montgomery County say Friday night will be one their busiest nights catching drunk drivers because of the abundance of office holiday parties.

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