The State of NC has this bad habit of resurfacing the back roads with loose gravel and heated tar. I guess they have to do the best they can with what they have to work with - but dang, they're killing me. They spray out the heated tar on the road and then come along and spread a thick layer of very fine gravel over the tar. The traffic presses the gravel into the tar and after a couple of weeks they come back and sweep the road and repaint the lines.

All this works well if folks will slow down to about 20 mph when meeting another vehicle. But it ain't from doodley for a motorcycle at any speed. They have done this to about all roads around my house ALL AT ONCE. I have to ride thru this crap to get anywhere. The gravel raises hell with the fenders and the oil cooler.

I guess I should be happy they do anything to "help" the country roads, but it's hard to remember this when you have to ride on it. You have to ride the "ruts" to maintain control and if you get to it right after they put down the gravel, it's about like riding in sand - no fun. Is this done elsewhere?

 

Yep, they do that on some of the more rural roads here in Missouri too.

 

Yep, they do it here in our quaint little village of Lake in the Hills, Illinois.
Its a real mess for about 3 weeks or so. Once it is all mashed down it looks like regular black top but til its worked in its a real mess.
MikeM

 

The State did that to the road that I live on and there was nothing wrong with it in the first place.....They have done it to the majority of roads around us, instead of fixing the potholes they tar and gravel over it (those potholes collect a lot of loose gravel too)...Waste of taxpayer money which NC DOT is very good for.....

 

they use that c rap over here to, its a cheep option!. but it build up in piles in the middle & at the edges, they only use it on rural roads here, i live in the sticks so i have to ride through the siht

 

Chip and oil, they do that to improve gravel roads around here. Takes a while to settle down but beats riding on gravel.

 

Yes, the worst part of it in NC is that many of the roads that have just recently been resurfaced were done less than a year ago. They were in excellent shape and a joy to ride on, this new resurfacing has made them no fun at all. Sometimes the cheapest option is not always the best. More of our tax dollars at work.

 

They do it in Nor Cal too, but now they've decided that a more aggressive chip (bigger) will hold up better. So the roads are really rough and have bigger rocks. I can't help thinking about how bad it would be to go down on the road surface, too, much like sliding across a big cheese grater.

 

I lived in Cary for a couple years in the early '80s and my wife used to tell everyone back home that she was amazed that in NC they resurface roads that are in perfect condition. I guess she was amazed because in Illinois we are lucky to have roads that are useable at all. When they do fix them, they use the same gravel and tar you get.

 

Some counties in Arkansas do the same thing with pea-gravel and tar. Fortunately, the state does not do that and most of the rural highways are state maintained.