Roughly one-third of the U.S. road network, some 1.4 million miles, are “unpaved,” meaning a gravel or dirt surface, according to an estimate by the Federal Highway Administration in 2012. The figure may be growing slowly because some counties and cities are converting paved roads to unpaved roads because of dwindling fuel-tax revenue, says Stateline.
“Both types of deconstructed roads can require more routine maintenance than asphalt or concrete, like regular grading and treatments to minimize dust and runoff. But they are generally much cheaper than paved roads to install and maintain,” says Stateline. It says a 2015 report by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program tallied 550 miles of road conversions in 27 states in recent years.
“In three Iowa counties, 50 miles of pavement were recycled to create gravel roads between 2013 and 2014,” says Stateline. Officials in Allamakee County, in northeastern Iowa, estimated that resurfacing a paved road would cost $100,000 a mile but converting to gravel would cost $5,000 a mile.
The deterioration of roads in rural America has been an issue for some time, and the ag community has complained that lousy roads interfere with the movement of farm goods and economic development.