Making a rural comeback: The old gravel road

[dflprincess]

Just another step in our slide to 3rd world status.

http://www.startribune.com/local/118713504.html


LANSING, IOWA - In the rolling countryside along the Minnesota border, the lonesome, dusty roads seemingly outnumber the people. So when Tony and Gertie Monat were looking for a place to live 14 years ago, they were happy to find a house with the bonus of a paved surface in front of it.

Now that pavement has been pulverized. The county government couldn't afford to resurface it, and the road in front of the Monats' white rambler is back to soft gravel. Amid the regular swirl of dust and flying stones, they can't help but feel they've lost a piece of modern life. "We definitely miss the hard surface," Gertie Monat said. "I'm like, how can you take that away now?"

The paved roads that finally brought rural America into the 20th century are starting to disappear across the Midwest in the 21st. Local officials, facing rising pavement prices, shrinking budgets and fewer residents, are making tough decisions to regress. In some places, they have even eliminated small stretches of gravel road altogether.

In states like South Dakota and Michigan, the reversions are bringing substantial changes to the landscape. Minnesota has managed to mostly escape so far, but at a conference in Shoreview last month some engineers acknowledged changes might be looming.

[MadHound]

1. I deliberately chose to live on a gravel road,

It keeps people from speeding, it isn't as hard on the environment, it is easier to walk on, and it means that I am definitely out in the country.

I wouldn't trade my gravel road for blacktop, no way.

Sounds like more whining of city people who, upon moving to the country, want to take their city conveniences with them. What's next, they want a Starbucks on the corner?

[catgirl]

3. I'm all for gravel roads! n/t

[WhiteTara]

7. we turn off gravel onto dirt

and it definitely keeps the traffic down.

[madinmaryland]

22. And they are probably whining about how high the taxes are.

Dumbasses.

:mad:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Next up: "Watch out for that road apple!"

[TomClash]

4. Bring back the ole chain gang!

"What we got here is a failure to communicate."

:sarcasm:

[elias49]

5. Wait a minute! If they're DRIVING a rambler

I'm not sure they've yet experienced a piece of "modern life"
.:rofl:

[southerncrone]

10. I think that was referring to their house.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. I hate driving on gravel. ugh

[dflprincess]

17. I do too

My aunt lives on a gravel road and I just hate the mile or so I need to drive on gravel when I visit her.

According to the article, Minnesota hasn't started this yet, but it's coming. I would think that too many gravel roads in some of the resort areas might not help tourism much.

[Zanzoobar]

8. Michigan should have started doing this 40 years ago.

The state has been in a constant downward slide and has been unable to maintain its infrastructure properly. If they'd have faced up to it then, the sprawl would not have been so drastic, and there would be no need to maintain it all.

Bring back the gravel and send the pebble loathing suburbanites into concrete jungles with their sporty cars and SUVs. They'll feel more comfy surrounded by hard surfaces, hard angles, and soft bread.

Good riddance.

[wuushew]

11. Shouldn't you state or indicate where you live b4 giving such strong advice?

:shrug:

[Zanzoobar]

14. I don't see why it should matter, but I was born and raised in MI

I'm well aware of the problems they've been glossing over for the last four decades.

[Scruffy1]

27. Gravel actually costs more in the long run.

Growing up in a rural area where we didn't have a paved road into town was interesting. In the spring horseback riding or a horse drawn wagon were not rare. Tire chains were commonplace. It was the federal Farm to Market program that got many of these roads paved.
When I lived in Wisconsin I was going over township finances with the town chairman and the cost of paved roads was substantially less because they do not require constant maintenance like gravel. Gravel has to constantly graded and added to as it settles in. I don't have data on this but I'll guarantee you that a paved road is a lot safer, also.
Just another example of not investing in our infrastructure.

[Zanzoobar]

28. Some gravel roads may cost more. Not most.

I don't advocate returning heavily used commuter routes to gravel. There are plenty of farm country and very low density residential routes that can be converted to gravel without affecting anyone's safety, and it will save money.

I also grew up on a gravel road. It was graded three times per year, and treated with dust preventer once per year. That's good enough for the roads I am referring to.

[FLPanhandle]

35. Hard to believe it's more expensive

When our road was gravel, I don't think I ever saw a maintenace truck. Since it's been paved there is a maintenance crew working on it every other year. Granted it's not a heavily traveled road, so maybe for heavy use roads paving is cheaper.

[bhikkhu]

9. Gravel is fine with me

Its easy and inexpensive to maintain (for a municipality of course), and it makes people drive slower. Living within our means is inherently beneficial and sane-making.

[kestrel91316]

12. Parts of Ventura Blvd in the San Fernando Valley, the main drag

in these parts, are going back to gravel. The city can't or won't repave them. Buses have to be careful with all the ruts and alligatoring in the right lane.It's truly pathetic.

Oh, but they have the resources to repave minor side streets that don't even need it.

[Thunderstruck]

13. Yet another sign that civilization has peaked and is now in decline.

[eShirl]

23. just ours

[Ezlivin]

15. Nothing nicer than pedaling your bike down a gravel road

It's probably fun to walk along side it as traffic goes past.

Sigh...

[reggie the dog]

33. i pedal my bike down gravel roads each time i go out riding

that is why the whole mountian bike thing works so well in the countryside

[bluedigger]

16. Paved Roads: Another Example of Unnecessary Government Spending

That was on my old Jeep. ;)

Need to get another for my new one.:shrug:

[DeSwiss]

18. K&R

- We were supposed to driving flying cars by now anyways......

[Zanzoobar]

30. Coming soon to a skyway near you...

http://www.moller.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=57

[Shagbark Hickory]

19. They should do this in Chicago. The roads would actually be smoother if they just pulverized them.nt

[tularetom]

20. And WTF will they do when all the gravel gets pounded down into the mud?

This is a big ass mistake thinking that turning a paved road back to gravel means no more maintenance expenses on that road. Heavy farm equipment driving on a gravel road can push the gravel down and bring the mud to the surface. In just a few years (probably less in areas subject to frequent freezes) the gravel will have essentially disappeared and need to be replaced. Floods can wash all the gravel off the roadway in just a day or two.

It's foolish short term thinking and the taxpayers won't stand for it very long. Better to have the guts to tell them the truth - if you want decent roads be prepared to pay what it costs to build and maintain them.

[Maine-ah]

44. grate them.

basically it's a very large rake on the back end of a tractor. They did it every year on the dirt road I grew up on. Usually one of the farmers did it.

[Junkdrawer]

21. When does the rural de-electrification start?

You think I kid?

[JHB]

32. When they decide billing revenue vs maintenance costs isn't generating...

...a desired level of profit.

Doesn't have to be unprofitable, just not profitable enough, and the bean-counters decide those resources could be put to "more efficient" use.

[hatrack]

40. Probably around the same time the Post Office stops delivering . . .

nt

[madrchsod]

24. i grew up driving as fast as possible on gravel roads...

power sliding through a corner was a blast....

[jwirr]

25. Makes me think of my younger and more irresponsible days. I grew

up in NW Iowa and most of the roads where gravel. From what I remember they very seldom had potholes in them and all you had to do to fix them was add gravel. I prefer gravel to potholes any day. What I did not like was the dirt roads that were not graveled and provided mud holes for us to get stuck in. The dirt road near my home is now closed and it is not causing a problem - they closed it because it would need a new bridge if they left it open. I am in favor of gravel in rural areas - even rural towns - because it is greener and cheaper. We were crazy to waste all that money on building paved roads that just ended up with more potholes than we want and was very expensive to repave when it needed it.

[madrchsod]

43. my mom grew up around the albert lea area

we`d go out there to visit when i was a kid. her uncle had a big olds that he`d drive 85 mph down the gravel roads. in the spring he`d never top at stop signs if he did`t see the dust on the other road. worse he could`t see worth a crap. at night he`d watch for the headlights on the cross roads. i really like going out there because it was so wide open and the only lights were the light on the barns

[Kablooie]

26. And for every road allowed to return to gravel, American jobs repairing them disappear.

[progressoid]

29. This isn't really such a bad thing.

As a former rural dweller, I drove a lot on gravel (and still do). It's not that big of a deal. And considering how some rural roads don't have much trafic, I can understand how the cost can be an issue.

But it will still piss off the people affected I'm sure.

[FLPanhandle]

31. I like this

Maybe slow down urban sprawl.

We've spent a shitload of money paving and building highways so people could live further and futher from their cities. Fuck that. Maybe if their fancy cars get dusty and dinged up on gravel roads, then they'll move back into the cities.

[hobbit709]

34. It's happening everywhere.

TX roads used to be some of the best in the country. Not any more.

[xchrom]

36. i hate gravel roads.

A 2005-2009 study from the Minnesota Department of Transportation found that in rural Minnesota counties, the cost of keeping up a gravel road is considerable -- $4,160 per year per mile, after an initial $13,000 per mile cost. The cost of building an asphalt road is $130,000 per mile, but it can be maintained for $2,460 per mile per year after that.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2010/07/a_dust-up_over_dirt_roads.shtml

[FLPanhandle]

38. Sounds like a win for gravel roads

Just the difference in intial costs means the gravel road can be built and maintained for 28 years for the intial cost of paving.

[reformist2]

37. It's sad, and stupid. This is what happens when the rich hoard all the money.

The rich used to understand that higher taxes and increased government spending increased the overall wealth of all Americans and in turn increased their own wealth and security. Now the rich are scared and want to hoard all the money, which will lead to a contraction of the economy and less wealth for everybody, even themselves.

[Shagbark Hickory]

41. What about the rich who have their very own paved road? Should it be maintained for just one home?

This makes sense to do. Cutbacks or no cutbacks. PAving a road for one house is a waste.

[adigal]

39. Maybe the whiners in the story will drive less

Win-win situation. I love gravel roads. I have a long driveway, I would never pave it.

[LWolf]

42. "I'm like," I prefer gravel to hard top.

Of course, I've spent a few decades of my adult life with gravel.

When my mom moved into a house on an acre, off of a gravel road, with a gravel driveway, 15 years ago, the first thing she did was pour a whole bunch of concrete. She has a long, NARROW driveway spreading to a slab that runs between her house and her shop. Of course, she's a girl from the suburbs on an adventure to live "in the country." She brings city/suburb concepts with her.

She pays to have it plowed regularly all winter long, and creates an actual mountain of snow doing so. That's not the real issue, though. She's a senior citizen, and doesn't move as confidently as she used to. Yet every morning, she has to cross that expanse of ultra-slick, iced concrete to get to her car, to feed her chickens, or to go anywhere outside the house. The first year, the neighbors sued her when they came over to visit and slipped on it. I have slipped and slid frequently, myself. She spreads cinders, which is what we do here instead of harmful salt, since we have cinders in abundance. It helps a little, but not enough. She's had several falls, but hasn't broken anything. Yet.

That nice gravel driveway and parking/turnaround area would have been much more navigable. I know, because that's what I live on. I don't have to worry about slipping and sliding when I walk, and I don't have to worry about sliding around when I drive, until I reach the paved road a couple of miles from my place.

[H2O Man]

45. Interesting.

I live off an old dirt road. It had, like many roads in NYS, been an Indian trail since Woodland times, connecting the Unadilla & Susquehanna Rivers to the lake at Ithaca. It became a "turnpike" a decade after the Revolutionary War. Today, it is a dead-end, "seasonal" road.

The part of it is now my driveway has more gravel & crushed stone than any other section. I have found old sections where cobble-stones were used for fill.

[uncle ray]

46. many here don't seem to understand the short lifespan of asphalt in harsh climates

or how incredibly expensive it is to resurface a road.

considering what roads are made of, i'd expect more cheering about this on DU.