Book Description

A primary purpose of this report is to review and summarize studies that provided comparative data on the impacts of paved roads and unpaved roads for selected environmental factors. The results of the literature search suggest that comparative studies of the impacts of paved versus unpaved roads are not well documented for a broad range of environmental impacts. Dust impacts of unpaved roads on air quality, water quality, aquatic habitat, and the effectiveness of dust control and suppression measures, including paving, are well documented and provide a basis for making comparisons. Little comparative information on the other environmental factors considered for this report was found. A literature review, surveys, and data analyses indicate that paving gravel roads may raise property values and vehicle speed. Paving has little effect on traffic volume, economic development, employment, tourism and recreation. Evidence from testing an empirical model suggests that paving may reduce fatal accident rates. However, this finding may also be attributable to safety improvements which often accompany paving rather than the paving itself. Because there are a number of plausible explanations for this finding, the issue should receive further study.