datlas 

I live in an area that uses a lot of chipseal (oil/chips).

Just in case you are lucky enough to not know what this is, the municipalities or state DOT cheaps out and instead of using ashphalt for paving roads, they spread a bunch of thick oil and then a layer (seems like an inch or two) of gravel. Ultimately traffic mashes down the gravel and the only annoyance is that the texture of the road is rough. But it's most dangerous the first few days after the gravel is spread, as it's loose and dangerous to ride a road bike on.

Anyway the point of this posting is not to b!tch about chipseal as that's been done...but to inquire about the rationale for using it.

I had always figured it was economics...that it's much cheaper than using asphalt.

But yesterday on a club ride, I was complaining about chipseal to one of my clubmates who happens to be the president of the club and has had some conversations about this topic with local and state governments...and he said he was told the reason they use chipseal is NOT to save money...it's to SLOW DOWN VEHICLE TRAFFIC (i.e. to keep cars from going too fast)!

I am not buying it, but I am also openminded...anyone know if this is true?

ps. If I was more of a conspiracy theorist I would also think that "safelite" is paying off local governments to use more of this as it's good for their business (repairing cracks in windshields)

Shimagnolo

BullFeathers.
The cars won't even notice the difference.

DropDeadFred

sounds ridiculous. If they wanted to slow down traffic they would 1. change the speed limit 2. patrol the area more (radar/laser) 3. speed bumps/tables

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipseal
this seemed to have the answer.....

patentcad

Municipalities save big $$ using chip seal. That's all there is to it.

datlas 

That's what I think. But my "dear leader" insists he was told it's to slow down traffic. I think he was fed a line.

Grumpy McTrumpy

hook, line, sinker.


most of the county roads here are chip-seal.

I can understand why they do it. There's no way they could afford to repave the roads with asphalt as often as they get destroyed by the winters. My road was fully repaved in 06 and was almost totally broken up by this year. They just chipped it two days ago. I hate it, but once it's not loose it will be a damn sight better than it was in the spring.

Daytrip

I've found that within a couple of days, there's nice grooves where the car tires have smoothed things out, and you can ride, albeit cautiously, on that part of the road. Within a few weeks, it's good as new, especially in hot weather.

One thing I have noticed is that you have to be cautious after heavy rains on some hills, because occasionally old chipseal stones or gravel from the shoulder can wash into the road, which can be an unwelcome development if you come around a corner and encounter it at 40 mph.

datlas 

I also brought this up because there is a section of road that was recently paved, and it's smooth as butter...and a couple of miles later it's chipseal. A real contrast.

Anyway I will tell El Jefe that he was fed a line. Not that it's going to make the chipseal any smoother...

Daytrip

Saying chipseal is a strategy for slowing down traffic is about like saying, "We ripped out the guardrails on Deadman's Curve so that people would realize there's no safety net anymore, and they'll slow down; fewer people will die."

Chipseal is obviously way cheaper than repaving the roads. Unless El Jeffe is a complete moron, he's trying to feed you a line.

patentcad

I think they do it just to piss off the 41.

dstrong 

When I ride east of town, my favorite sign to spot down the road is the one announcing "Travis County Maintenance Begins", because it means the road will change from chipseal to asphalt at that point.

Homebrew01

They repaved a road here ..... smooth as glass ......... then chip sealed it a few weeks later ..... bastards

UberGeek

Chipseal "might" reduce speeds, since it's roadnoise increases dramatically the higher in speed. However, I think the major reason was cost.

pallen

As bad as chipseal can often be, it beats a gravel road...

Will G

Seems most country and state roads around here have been repaved in the last year with chip seal and a friend called our regional Dept of Transportation office to inquire about it. The answer he got was that "coarse aggregate" paving is more expensive than the hot mix asphalt and does a better job sealing against water intrusion. All I know is that is sucks and my hands and feet go numb from the vibration.

rbart4506

Bingo!

Lots of formerly gravel roads have been chipsealed around my area...As much as I would rather be on a paved road at least now I have increased options for training routes...

Daytrip

My favorite sign is "Boning Strictly Enforced"

Always good to have law enforcement on your side, I think.

bonz50

I have no gripes with chipseal, (its a road, so what) save one fairly major complaint... tire where, on both bike and car, those things friggin EAT tires... cars I have gotten 75k on oem tires can't get past about 45k in chipseal areas where my fam lives in rural AL... and I know many trucks that can't get more than 30k on a set of tires... at $1200/set of tires for trucks that stuff is really damn expensive to drive on...

nyxis

chip seal doesnt slow anyone down.. on our group rides people still haul ass past us 60mph flinging rocks at us.. we try to avoid these roads as much as possible but sometimes it just isnt..

hamsey

Must be a Connecticut thing. They did the same thing in my neck of the woods. Kinda stupid!

nhluhr

$1200 over 45,000 miles? That doesn't sound very expensive to me.

hurley1718

Yeah he was fed a line. Chipseal in PA during the summer is like a 5th season. Same time every year with the same signs "Road to be oiled next week". Which means I will avoid these roads at all cost on my bike or car.

Commodus

Holy crap you guys can't even afford pavement down there? That's rough.

...do we have chipseal in Canada? I've never seen it...

himespau 

They use oil with your chipseal? Back home in Michigan, I always thought it was tar. Maybe the difference between tar and really heavy oil isn't all that much.

nhluhr

Tar is heavy oil. Essentially the leftover dregs from the refining process.