The folks of Spiritwood, North Dakota, are in dire need of money-saving tips. Among the ideas is to return the roads of the area back to their pre-1950’s state. That’s right, they’re turning asphalt roads into gravel paths, and they’re not alone. States everywhere are churning up their pockmarked asphalt and returning to the gravel paths of yesteryear!
“When [counties] had lots of money, they paved a lot of the roads and tried to make life easier for the people who lived out here,” said Stutsman County Highway Superintendant Mike Zimmerman. “Now, it’s catching up to them.” The move is expected to save the county over $70,000, as the gravel road costs only $2,600 per mile to maintain versus $75,000 to reconstruct it to its pre-damaged state.
That’s a huge savings! I suppose if the road is too damaged, that’s a great idea to save some money and skip out on the repairs; however, what if the road isn’t too damaged? Do you just let it sit around and turn into an axle-breaking mess until it’s so bad you can justify graveling it up? Do you fill the potholes with gravel and wait for it all to go bad? And what do you do to placate the residents about your alternative road-making materials when they’ve had 60 years to get used to a good road?
Tags: economic crisis, local governments turning asphalt roads to gravel, cheaper road materials, money-saving techniques, building roads, reverting roads to gravel, unusual money-saving ideas, Spiritwood, North Dakota, Mike Zimmerman, Stutsman County