Via The Transportationist:

In Michigan, miles of deteriorated rural roads that need repaving have been reverted to gravel. According to WWMT:

The county estimates it takes about $10,000 to grind up a mile of pavement and put down gravel. It takes more than $100,000 to repave a mile of road.

Saving $90,000 per mile on underused rural roads could help in rebuilding other deteriorating infrastructure. It could be a way of channeling much needed transportation funding from rural areas to cities which have generally had under-investment in infrastructure compared to rural areas. I’m curious about the annual maintenance costs though, I’m imagining gravel has a higher ongoing maintenance cost and has to be re-graveled more frequently. Also, areas with heavy snowfall and frequent plowing could see much of their gravel plowed away each winter.

I’ve spent time driving in rural Iowa, where gravel roads are common and they work fine. I’ve also driven on highways in Cambodia, where the potholes from previously paved roads are so large the can swallow cars (most traffic veers off of the road into the ditch on a dirt path). My sense is gravel would have been a better choice there.