Seattle Forrest

I don't know what things are like where you are. We've been losing dirty and gravel roads at an alarming pace. They're being closed and some decommissioned (berms created etc) die to budget constraints. Many of the ones that remain aren't getting as much maintenance as in bygone days.

We have volunteer programs where people "adopt" a road or a section of one. This means driving or riding it regularly, clearing culverts, etc. I assume this isn't unique to Washington, I'm posting in case anybody has some free time and wants to volunteer in a way they can personally connect to.

Caliper

I haven't seen any fresh paving going on in MI, but we barely keep up with the paved roads we have. Fortunately it would be hard for MDOT to close the dirt and gravel roads we ride here because they are residential.

fietsbob

Here , they're Logging roads on Private Timber Company lands with a locked steel bar across them near the main road

& it gets steep fast ..

In Hunting season , electric motors on MTB and Fat bikes are getting used to get up there ..

tsmorr

Still plenty of dirt roads in Vermont.

chas58

Actually, I see a fair amount. I see residents want to keep them gravel, people selling want to have it paved, and developers want to have it paved. So the people that live and stay there are the minority.

But yeah, most of the gravel roads here are A LOT smoother than the paved ones. But you knew that, lol.

Hondo Gravel

Even back Texas gravel roads need to be adopted. I know when someone is building a house on their place because the area always has fast food trash which is thrown out the window intentionally. I unofficially adopt by picking up the trash myself and into the dumpster I share with neighbors. Pigs.

Yes many of the gravel roads are getting paved as more people move out to the boonies. But there is still plenty of gravel and sometimes I don’t mind pavement. I get tired of pavement then the gravel appears and vice versa.

unterhausen

don't think they will close any roads near me, but there is one closed road. I think it was closed until they put in a pipeline, then they reopened, and now it's closed again. The county south of here is removing the pavement from a lot of roads, which is unfortunate, but there are more gravel roads now

Spoonrobot 

A majority of the gravel roads that are within a 100 mile round trip (by bicycle) of Atlanta are probably going to be gone within the next 10-15 years. Just too much value in the land to not pave the roads to up the selling price as sprawl keeps sprawlin'. It's a shame, we lost a good one - Brushy Mountain road - last year and another road a couple years before that. All told probably only 8-12 miles but that's almost half of the total gravel out Dallas (GA) way. No way to forestall it, the city, property owners and so forth aren't interested in keeping it country, as it were.

Regardless there's enough gravel within a 2 hour drive of the city to keep anyone busy for years - right now it's just getting the routes developed but I've been working on that myself as is TimothyH with his website. Hopefully within a year or two they're be another 5-600 miles of turn-key routes in play.

TimothyH

What does this mean? I've never heard of the term.

I have two new routes, both carved out of the larger Tour de Liverance event.

Elijay East: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29719483
Elijay West: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29719263

Talona Creek Rd on the east loop is really nice. I'm going to ride this soon.


-Tim-

Seattle Forrest

It means I need to fire my proofreader. I meant to write clearing culverts.

TimothyH

Autocorrect makes life butter for everyone.


-Tim-