road bond
Tyler Howe
Residents,
Hancock had its road bond hearing Monday night for the Kings Highway reclamation project. This project was explained last year at town meeting and will resemble the Middle road project. Some questions arose during the meeting pertaining to turning kings hwy to gravel versus asphalt.
Timeline-
2026- reclamation (grind up existing road) - Hunts pond dam- landing road
2027- Base pave (reclaim & base pave flagstone to gravel interchange)
2028- wearing course
2029- chip seal
expected useful life- 12-15years
NHDOT has daily traffic on Hunts Pond road to Kings HWY- 400-500.
Some points were brought up about leaving this road section gravel, I will remind you that at one point back in history, Main street was gravel as well. Turning our roads from asphalt to gravel is going back in time and terribly inefficient for maintenance. I know some people use the its a dead end road or it's not my road but everyone's road is on our road plan.
Turning paved roads back to gravel, a process known as "de-paving" or "un-paving," is often a financial necessity for local governments facing crumbling infrastructure they can no longer afford to maintain. While it offers immediate capital savings, it introduces significant long-term costs and unintended side effects.
Unintended Consequences
Vehicle Damage & Consumer Behavior: Loose gravel and rough surfaces cause
accelerated wear on tires, axles, suspensions, and wheel bearings. In some
regions,
this has led residents to trade in fuel-efficient vehicles like Priuses for
less efficient SUVs suited for harsh road conditions.
Environmental Degradation: Unpaved roads are highly prone to erosion, washing sediment into nearby waterways. This silt can smother stream habitats, harming species like trout and insects, and can even raise streambeds, increasing local
flood risks.
Air Quality & Health: Dust from dry gravel roads can spread into the air,
posing
respiratory risks to humans and negatively impacting roadside vegetation.
Chemicals used for dust control, such as calcium chloride, can also have secondary
ecological or health effects.
Safety Hazards: Gravel roads ofen lack standard paved infrastructure like
guardrails, lighting, and clear signage. Loose surfaces increase the risk of skidding,
chipped windshields from flying debris, and accidents caused by mechanical failure from
harsh driving conditions.
Cost Impacts
Initial Capital Savings: Converting a deteriorating paved road to gravel can be
dramatically cheaper than repaving.
Higher Annual Maintenance: While cheaper to build, gravel roads often cost more
to maintain annually than paved roads. They require frequent grading, shaping, and
re graveling to fix washboard ridges and potholes.
Maintenance "Tipping Point": Maintenance costs for gravel roads
increase
significantly once traffic exceeds roughly 200 vehicles per day (Average Daily
Traffic), at which point paving often becomes more cost-effective in the long
run.
Winter Operations: It can take up to four times more salt and sand to maintain
public safety on a gravel road compared to a paved one during ice storms
Properly .
This day in age most people desire a home on an asphalt road versus gravel for many reasons. Although that is a matter of personal preference.