Goods Movement in Rural Areas
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Goods Movement in Rural Areas
Background
The economic vitality of the Sacramento region is extraordinarily dependent on the ability to transport goods to consumers, which is particularly critical to the viability of the manufacturing, distribution, and agricultural sectors. Goods movement is one of many eleme
Within the Sacramento region, an estimated 90.6% of freight tonnage is carried by truck, 2.9% by rail, 0.4% by ship and 0.1% by air. The remainder is carried by some combination of modes or by pipeline. It is important to remember that even freight moved by ship or train still must almost always travel “the last mile” to its destination by truck. Average daily truck volumes on the region’s freeways range from around 3,000 per weekday on Route 70; 4,100 on U.S. 50; 8,000 on Route 99 and I-80; and up to 10,650 on I-5. Figure 1 shows the growth since 1988 of daily two-way truck volumes on two major goods movement corridors in the Sacramento region.
Locally, the makeup of shipments that stay within the region is about 35% gravel and other non-metal mineral products, 20% gasoline and petroleum products, and 9% waste or scrap. The only sizeable product exported out of the region is agriculture (both fresh and processed foods), and agricultural trucking depends upon rural roads, highways, and freeways.
Figure 2 describes the value and weight of U.S. exports by transport mode. Goods are transported through the Sacramento region using all five primary modes, each with its own relative opportunities and constraints.
Primary Goods Movement Modes
Trucks
Throughout the country, the highway system plays an important role in the shipment of freight. The heaviest concentration of interstate or intrastate truck movement is along the interstate highway corridors. The vast majority of rural goods are shipped into and out of states by truck. Due to the flexibility and the door-to-door service provided, the highway and road network is vitally important for shipping freight. This is evidenced by the shear size of the trucking industry in America.
Most increased freight shipment in the SACOG region is being carried by truck, a trend likely to continue. Both Interstate 5, linking the Central Valley with southern California seaports, and Interstate 80, linking the Bay Area, Sacramento, and areas east of the Sierra, carry 2,500 truck trips per day through the region plus another 5,000 that stop here. More truck traffic must use arterial roads, as businesses move to suburban areas with limited highway access. With greater use of local routes and increases in truck weight limits, roads have deteriorated.
Railroads
Between 1990 and 2001, freight transport on the nation’s major railroads increased by nearly 45%. At the same time, national rail system mileage decreased by 18%—largely the result of rail industry consolidations. Consequently, rail capacity has been severely strained in recent years, most notably during a series of high-profile rail disruptions in the late 1990s, such as the service slowdowns resulting from the 1996 Union Pacific-Southern Pacific merger. Agriculture was among those industries most hurt by rail disruptions.
Major western railroads operate near capacity today, and can compete with trucks only hauling goods for more than 700 miles. Freight train miles traveled continues to increase, and is forecasted to double by 2020 and double again by 2035, while very little new track is being laid. A mile of track costs $3.5 million to construct and nearly $500,000 annually to maintain. Railroads are not earning a high enough rate of return to expand main-line track significantly. The SACOG region contains only two Class 1 railroads (Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and two short line railroads (Sierra Northern Railway and California Northern Railroad).
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Port of Sacramento1
The Port of Sacramento is currently experiencing a period of growth after suffering several years of lower freight volumes. The port’s initiative to attract “green” industries and its strategic alliance with the Port of Oakland have brought new activity and the chance for economic prosperity. A recycled wood pellet manufacturing plant and a biofuel production, storage, and distribution facility have shown interest in locating at the port. A channel deepening project, partially funded with Prop 1B funds, will deepen the channel by five feet and allow 75% of the world’s shipping fleet to enter fully loaded, compared to only 30% currently. The port lies outside the congested Bay Area, nearer the Central Valley cargo market, with good connections via I-5, I-80 and railroad lines. Its proximity to these central corridors makes it an important connection in goods movement.
Facilities: The port’s multipurpose bulk shiploader connects through a fixed conveyor system to a 200,000 ton covered storage facility and a 650,000 ton open storage facility for either import or export cargo. A 200-railcar terminal marshaling yard provides space for the BNSF Railway, Union Pacific, and Sierra Northern to transfer shipments. Agricultural shipments can be stored in on-site bulk rice and grain elevators or the dry bulk cargo warehouse, or bagged in the bulk commodities bagging facility. In addition, more than 50 companies provide a versatile range of services and equipment.
Sample of Services Offered by the Port:
- Bulk Grain Elevator: 30,000-ton storage capacity (1,250,000 bushel capacity, 1,500-ton drying capacity daily)
- Pier 1 Rice Elevator: The only bulk milled rice facility at a West Coast Port. Cargo: Bulk white, brown and rough or paddy rice
- Wharf 7: Cargo: General cargo, bagged rice, newsprint, fertilizer
- Pier 5: Cargo: Miscellaneous Mineral and Industrial Bulk; wheat, safflower and other grains
- Pier 8 Cargo: Bulk wood chips, bulk and jumbo bagged fertilizer
Recent Shipping Trends:The Port of Sacramento exports on average 180,000-200,000 tons of “bagged rice” per year to Asia. Recently, the first shipment in 2.5 years was shipped to Puerto Rico. Changes in the global rice market, such as the increasing use of food crops for production of bio-fuels, have made California rice more competitive in locations that had previously been served by other countries. Still, current upswings have not brought rice exports back to the levels seen in 1999.
Airports
In other parts of the country, air freight plays a significant economic role in rural areas. Air freight can connect rural freight shippers to major cities, and to domestic and international destinations. Although low-volume, air cargo has high value and has grown considerably in recent years. Air freight is increasingly important to the economy for shipping low weight, high-value-added items. In addition, in a just-in-time economy that maintains low inventories, aviation plays a key role in the supply chain. Development in high technology industries is an example of where future growth can be anticipated to drive air freight growth.
In California, airborne agricultural exports in 2004 totaled $659 million, an increase of nearly 60% since 2000. In addition, for high value-added crops like cherries, strawberries, asparagus, and organically raised produce, air cargo offers the only means for exploiting overseas markets. California’s agricultural exports typically head to Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, while rail and truck facilitate trade with Mexico and Canada.
Mather Field has become a regional air cargo hub, even though half of the region’s air cargo still moves through Sacramento International Airport. Sacramento is still a relatively minor player; more than 90% of the state’s airborne freight moves through Los Angeles or San Francisco. Both those cities, constrained by congested highways and limited opportunities to expand their airports, face challenges as international air cargo volume is expected to double or triple by 2025, offering Sacramento more opportunity to pick up growth.
Pipelines
Petroleum products, specifically gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, are transported to the Sacramento region from the Bay Area by pipelines. Approximately 400 truck trips are dispatched every day from four Sacramento River terminals and a Bradshaw terminal to distribute gasoline and diesel fuel throughout the region. The pipelines allow these trips to be local rather than to and from the Bay Area.
Goods Movement Issues
Regional Goods Movement Survey
Intraregional and Interregional Goods Movement
While >rural areas in the region >experience substantial goods movement traffic and associated >air quality effects, they typically receive >inadequate transportation resources to >address the impacts. In 2005, >the SACOG region produced some $1.2 billion >worth of agricultural product, all of which traveled by truck over >rural roads to shipping >or packing points. See Figure 4 below for a breakdown of agricultural product value by county. International trade is also behind increased freight shipments. U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico reached a record high of $7.3 billion by 2002, a doubling in value since passage of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Growth in north-south highway traffic routes has created additional strains on the rural highway network.
The flow of goods in the Sacramento region is mainly focused on goods being moved to, from, or entirely within the region. In spite of being at the crossroads of Northern California’s major highways, only 22% of goods are moving right through the region. Looking only at the volumes of goods being moved:
- The most important share of these movements are internal – movements entirely within the region – at around 29% according to the FHWA’s Freight Analysis Framework (data on local freight movements are admittedly difficult to obtain and thus under-reported, so this percentage is expected to be significantly higher than reported).
- Another key segment of goods flow is freight coming into the region, accounting for 33% of goods movement in the region.
- Next is the volume of through movements of goods at about 22%. The region is located at the crossroads of I-5 and I-80 and at the junction of major north-south and east-west rail lines as well.
- Finally, the smallest of the four freight flows is exports from the region to other areas at about 16% of the total volume. Basic manufacturing of goods makes up a small part of Sacramento’s economy although agricultural products are a significant export.
Although some of the SACOG region’s agricultural output is exported, some of it is also transported to processing facilities in the region. Whereas before, processing plants where scattered around the region, today many have been consolidated, especially in Modesto. The Del Monte fruit processing plant in Woodland closed and operations were shifted to the Modesto plant. In addition, the Tri Valley Growers moved their processing plant from Sacramento to Modesto. Consolidating processing plants creates a situation where trucks are confined to certain routes, increasing congestion and the amount of wear and tear on rural roads.
Pavement Deterioration
Integrity of the road system is a significant concern in rural areas. Large trucks take a substantial toll on roads that feed into the State highways, not only in traffic volumes, but also in impacts to pavement conditions. The growing size and weight of heavy duty trucks (as well as the growing size of all vehicles) results in heavier pavement loads and shorter pavement life. With approximately 46% of the road miles located in rural areas, the proportion of road miles to population creates a far larger responsibility without the economic means to address it. Many local agencies have identified wear and tear damage from heavy trucks on arterial streets as a rising factor in poor pavement condition. In the Sacramento region, heavy trucks do major damage to older rural county roads not built for these kinds of loads.
Heavy-truck traffic and wet weather comprise the two most critical factors in pavement deterioration. In simple terms, one fully loaded 80,000-pound truck causes as much pavement wear as 10,000 automobiles. Since 1990, heavy-truck travel has grown at a rate 50% greater than that of automobile travel. Rural roads are thus less likely to be "lightly used" than in the past. To the extent that they are still narrow and lightly paved, they are likely to be inadequate to meet future demands. Additionally, the narrowness of some rural roads makes it hard for trucks to make right-hand turns. This causes trucks to run up onto sidewalks (where sidewalks are present) and damage signs, poles, and streetlights. Many additional maintenance issues related to increased truck traffic are explored in the Rural System Maintenance paper.
Urbanizing Rural Roads
- Spreading residential and commercial development has put many more vehicles on rural roads.
- Changing commuting patterns and the use of rural roads as freeway bypasses adds to the rural vehicle load.
- Trucks, cars, and farm machinery increasingly share a network that was not designed to support current volumes. Connections to and through these networks are often lacking, creating access bottlenecks to major corridors. Heavy trucks on outdated roads result in pavement deterioration, dust, and safety concerns.
The urbanization of rural roads is a trend that will continue as growth spreads throughout our region. The topic is explored in depth in the Travel Choices for Rural Mobility paper.
Truck Parking
An interesting dichotomy emerges when looking at the issue of truck parking. On the one hand, citizens are irritated by trucks encroaching on neighborhood streets and parking illegally. On the other hand, it is often necessary for trucks to park temporarily while making deliveries. Potential policies encouraging coexistence can be contrasted with narrow efforts to ban or confine goods movement activity where it conflicts with passenger needs or bothers residents. Individual communities may be able to divert or discourage trucks, but if regional needs as a whole are to be met, such efforts become a zero-sum game. A policy of coexistence, on the other hand, would place as much emphasis on where trucks should be as on where they should not be. A policy of coexistence is more challenging in the short term because it requires solving problems and balancing interests rather than postponing resolutions or surrendering to vocal community demands. In the long term, however, managing coexistence will be easier and more productive than waiting to confront growing problems or irreconcilable differences due to years of neglect.
Public vs. Private Sector Roles in Goods Movement
Despite a critical role in the region’s economic vitality, goods movement is almost completely a function of the private sector, making it difficult to identify critical public sector investments. Most freight carriers prefer to operate in the background – largely invisible to the public. While a number of transportation users form some sort of constituency (e.g. bicycle and pedestrian advocates, transit users), it is often noted that “freight doesn’t vote.” The result of this is that the needs of the freight transportation industry are largely unknown to the general public and unacknowledged by policy-makers and planners. Too often, planning agencies must tell their constituencies that no reliable data exist to answer their questions, or that elaborate estimation and allocation methods must be employed to infer the likely range of key numbers.
Freight movement forecasting can estimate what is going on in the economy at large and reveal what goods move in and out of a particular site, but discloses much less about how and why goods are moved in between. Freight flow data range from global estimates of total national ton-miles to truck counts on specific local streets. Methodologies in use are equally broad – ranging from sophisticated models to back-of-the envelope guesses. Regional forecasting needs can range from satisfying public curiosity to demands for specific performance measures.
Rural Freight Coordination between Transportation Modes
Demands for rural freight mobility in the region are met by highway, rail, water and air transportation, or a combination of these modes. Expanding trade and innovations such as just-in-time manufacturing often require the transport of goods by a combination of transportation modes in a short period of time. This places a great premium on a transportation system with a high level of intermodal connectivity. For this reason, transportation investments with the highest returns appear to be those that can produce what are called “network effects.”
Network effects, as opposed to local improvements, raise the productivity of the system as a whole. Increases in network capability benefit everyone linked to the network, even those located at points far removed from the point where improvements are made. For example, a fruit grower in Yuba County and a restaurant diner in Tokyo benefit from local road, highway, airport and port improvements. Unfortunately, network benefits are often overlooked when compared to plans that favor projects with site-specific and local benefits.
Inadequate Funding
Clearly identified funding sources for goods movement investments are seriously limited. The conventional sources of funds are property taxes and development fees. Neither of these sources appears adequate to address the potential adverse financial impacts on cities or other jurisdictions. Input from regional economic development directors clearly indicates that the formula for development fees and valuation for property taxes tend to undervalue large distribution centers. Thus, large distribution centers do not typically generate enough civic revenue to pay for the required infrastructure upgrades or maintenance, and the State of California no longer has an inventory tax to supplement inadequate revenues. Funding issues are not unique to goods movement. In fact, goods movement and trucking often result in the need for maintenance funding to repair deteriorating roadways. The Rural Systems Maintenance paper explores such maintenance funding issues.
Industrial developers have opportunities to tap state funds under several programs. Some of these programs involve reductions in local tax revenue in return for economic development, thus reducing the pool of funds needed to address impacts. None of these programs provide additional funds to localities. A first critical step in generating the pool of funds required to address financial externalities would likely be a revision of the development fee formula to better reflect long-term needs. Parallel revisions of property tax rules would be much more difficult.
A second option is the creation of regional or state funding to address local goods movement impacts. The recent “infrastructure bond” initiative generated a large sum, but will be used to deal with only the largest and most prominent projects state-wide. Additional ongoing funding initiatives would be necessary to generate funds for local needs, including rural farm-to-market roads.
Certain jurisdictions, whether for historical or location-specific reasons, have borne a disproportionate share of the goods movement “burden” for the region. It is a challenge for the region to ensure that those “strategic goods movement assets” are protected, and that those jurisdictions bearing the burdens are afforded some form of mitigation.
Allocating any source of freight funding among affected jurisdictions would likely be a process of negotiation. Road and highway funds are typically allocated according to miles of road or population, neither of which correlates with impacts from goods movement projects. A locality with a higher share of industrial or distribution facilities would experience a corresponding high volume of heavy truck movement, but would not receive proportionate funds to repair the damage. The ability to segregate the impacts of goods movement and predict the impacts of new development may be the key to a more responsive funding mechanism.
Modal Efficiencies
Effective goods movement requires coordination between travel modes, including trucks, rail and shipping. The SACOG Goods Movement Study established that modal shifts between rail, truck and ships offer limited but significant opportunities for goods movement efficiency. Freight customers gravitate toward the most efficient mode that meets their needs. Modal choice, however, is only an efficient strategy where the efficient modes are available. Where shippers do not have access to efficient modes for physical or institutional reasons, the region’s goods movement network will be operating less efficiently.
A SACOG policy of facilitating modal choice and minimizing institutional barriers would improve the ability of regional shippers and consignees to choose the most efficient mode. For example:
- The report identified opportunities to reduce truck vehicle miles traveled by importing cement through the Port of Sacramento by ship. Cement importers are constructing port terminals for that purpose. Success in reducing regional truck travel, however, may depend on good highway access to and from the Port of Sacramento and channel deepening to accommodate modern vessels.
- The report also identified potential efficiencies from transloading inbound building materials at McClellan Airfield. Maximizing the benefit will depend on good truck routes between McClellan, Rancho Cordova, and other centers of demand in outlying portions of the region.
Each freight mode strives for efficient operations independent of public policies, but there may be instances where modal efficiencies can be encouraged or discouraged by public initiatives. Most particularly, public policy may be able to influence the tradeoffs between efficiency and environmental impact. The development of a coherent regional truck route system is a case in point.
Innovations and Best Practices
Farm-to-Market Road Systems
Changing demographics, commute patterns and infrastructure capacity constraints are having a negative impact on pick up and delivery of time-sensitive farm products. The common image of a "farm road" is a narrow, lightly paved, lightly used road connecting widely separated farms with towns or shipping points such as elevators or packing sheds. Parts of this image may be out of date.
Although roadway improvements are planned in many communities, identifying and developing appropriate transportation options that recognize the unique needs of the agricultural industry must be a part of an effective goods movement strategy. Rural issues, while as acute as those in urban areas, have very different characteristics. With only 8% of California's population, rural areas comprise 94% of the land area. Supporting farm-to-market travel acrosssuch a sparsely and widely distributed area presents special transportation challenges that must be considered when planning for a balanced, interconnected system.
Three states have designated farm-to-market road systems with state maintenance or state maintenance aid:
- Texas (41,000 miles)—The system was built (1949) and is maintained by TX DOT. The Colson-Briscoe Act of 1949 allowed the creation of an extensive system of secondary roads by providing $15 million per year for local highway construction. This amount increased to $23 million in 1962. F-to-M roads account for ½ TX DOT transportation system. TX uses special signage to denote F-to-M and R-to-M roads.
- Missouri (19,064 miles)—The state-operates a system of supplemental routes. The goal was to place state-maintained roads within two miles of more than 95% of all farms houses, schools, churches, cemeteries, and stores. Supplemental routes (4 types of routes) account for 59% of MO state highway system. MO uses special signage to denote supplemental routes.
- Iowa (35,000 miles)—F-to-M roads are under county jurisdiction but eligible for state aid from dedicated fund. The state divides money among counties. 70% of funds are distributed based on land area and 30% are distributed based on need.
In addition, one county in the SACOG region has identified key farm-to-market roads and has a policy in place to ensure efficient goods movement on these routes.
- Yolo County Farm-to-Market Roads—County Road 98: access to Solano tomato processing plant, grain dryer in Woodland; CR 27: access to sole crop dusting airport in Yolo County; CR 31, 93A, and Russell: access to nut processing in Winters, nut dryer along Russell; CR 102: access to grain dryers, tomato processing in Woodland, alfalfa storage; CR 14: access to RH Philips Vineyards; CR 22: access to Port of Sacramento.
- Policy CI-7.3—“Facilitate agricultural ‘farm-to-market’ transport. Improve and maintain roadways to provide a network of agricultural truck transportation corridors and to facilitate farm-to-market connectivity. By attracting truck trips to targeted corridors, other roadways throughout the County are more available for movement of agricultural vehicles (including over-sized and slower-moving equipment critical to harvest) and farm workers thus supporting more efficient and safe agricultural operations countywide.”2
A full list of targeted trucking corridors can be found in Attachment A.
Shortline Railways3
Healthy economies rely on being able to ship goods to market. National corporations take advantage of cross-country railways to get product from production facilities to shelves, but many local producers rely on shortline railways instead. Railways are classified in three categories. Class I railways cover long distances and generate at least $320 million in annual revenue. There are only seven Class I railways in the United States. About thirty Class II railways operate in the U.S. and they generate revenues in the $25-$320 million range. Finally, over 500 Class III shortline railways service local markets. A shortline railway generates less than $25 million (usually much less), but these railways serve an important function in local economies. Shortline railways link producers with local raw materials and provide connections to Class I railways that move goods across the nation.
Goods movement by rail witnessed severe declines with the advent of shipping by truck. With many railroads facing bankruptcy, Congress passed the Staggers Act and the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981. These acts allowed railroads to drop money-losing segments of their railways, which unfortunately resulted in many cuts to shortline rail service. With rising fuel prices, however, railroads have seen a recent increase in freight volumes. Shortline railways are again beginning to compete with trucking for short-distance shipping and have many advantages over trucks in serving local markets.
Benefits of Shortline Railways
- One mile of track can be built for as little as 10% of the cost of building a mile of highway
- Shortline railways reduce congestion by taking trucks off of already overcrowded highways
- Shorline railways reduce wear and tear on highways and on deteriorating rural roads
- Shortline railways provide convenient access to larger Class I rail lines for national shipping
- Shortline railways expel about 1/3 as many greenhouse gas emissions as trucks. A shift of 1% of long-haul freight from trucks to trains would reduce annual greenhouse gas emission by over twelve million tons.
- Shortline railways are three to four times more fuel efficient than trucks
- Shortline railways reduce traffic deaths. Train-automobile accidents do occur, but are much less common than automobile accidents.
SACOG Region Shortline Rail
In August 2003, the Sierra Railroad Company and the Yolo Shortline Railroad merged to form the Sierra Northern Railway. The Sierra Northern Railway is a seventy-five mile stretch of track that connects West Sacramento, Woodland, and other Central Valley agricultural sites. The line also connects with the Union Pacific Railway, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and the Port of Sacramento. Its parent company, the Sierra Railroad Company maintains the tracks.
Sierra Northern handles approximately 8,000 carloads annually. Commodities include lumber, particle board, wallboard, wood chips, bulk gypsum, bulk limestone, bulk plastics, canned goods, tomato paste, chemicals, steel, grain and grain products, ethanol, and propane. Sierra Northern also has access to many industrial sites and warehouses.
Shortline Rail Challenges
Shortline Railways were designed to handle local freight and local freight weights. Recently, freight loads have been increasing, causing Class III railways to scramble to accommodate heavier loads. Class I railroads use 132 lbs to 152 lbs rail that can handle these heavier loads. Class III railways are built with lower weight rail that cannot handle heavier carloads.
Many shortline railways have been abandoned and are in such disrepair that the cost to make them operational is too burdensome. In addition, many shortline railways have been converted into Rails-to-Trails projects, and acquiring a right of way once these projects are completed is virtually impossible. Therefore, the biggest challenge for shortline railways is keeping tracks from falling into disrepair so they can be used in the future.
Long-Life Pavement Rehabilitation
Long-life pavement rehabilitation is recommended for corridors on roadways where the average daily traffic is greater than 150,000 vehicles and 50,000 average daily truck traffic. Long-life pavement rehabilitation aims to extend the service life of the pavement to at least twice the normal rehabilitation project and will upgrade the existing corridor to current federal standards. Other roadway improvements, such as signing and lighting upgrades, traffic safety, and operational improvements may be added to this work if justified by accident statistics or are required by federal standards to qualify the project for federal funding. The expected life of a long-life pavement project is 20 to 40 years.
Return to Gravel
Municipalities may consider reverting deteriorating paved roads back to gravel roads if maintenance and repair costs are too high to be funded. The following paragraphs give an overview of when reverting back to gravel roads is appropriate and when other solutions should be pursued.
Applicable Uses and Benefits
Roads that have less than 50 average daily traffic (ADT) are ideal for gravel roads; however roads with up to 250 ADT may be suitable depending on the type of vehicles using the road. Roads used mainly by trucks and large vehicles should think about paving roads sooner than a gravel road frequented mainly by passenger cars and light trucks. Gravel roads help reduce traffic speed and have lower initial capital costs. This is important because the price of asphalt has doubled in the past decade. In general, funding for roads has remained about the same, and in some areas decreased. Maintaining paved roads is sometimes too expensive, in which case a gravel road may be a good solution.
Safety, Maintenance, and Costs
Safety should be the primary consideration in road design. If a paved roadway is so badly deteriorated that it is unsafe or irritating to drivers, the road may better serve drivers as a well-maintained gravel road. Controlling speed is one reason to construct gravel roads. Speeding down a deteriorated paved road is very dangerous, so switching to gravel can help prevent accidents. At the same time, driving on gravel roads also requires careful attention to avoid punctures from sharp stones, potholes, dust, and skidding on muddy roads.
A poorly-maintained gravel road can have just as many potholes, ruts, and uneven spots as the paved road it replaces. Gravel roads require much more frequent maintenance to avoid rutting, washboarding (the formation of corrugations across the surface at right angles to the direction of travel), and flooding. Regularly replenishing the gravel road with new stones and evening out existing stones can prevent these problems. In addition, a well-designed gravel road will have better drainage, so it is important to design good roads that can be maintained.
Gravel roads kick up tremendous amounts of dust, which can be hazardous if drivers are not careful. In addition, springtime can bring muddy roads and flooding on poorly designed and maintained gravel roads. Paved roads carry much more water off the road, so flooding is less of a problem. Paved roads can also accommodate larger truck and higher traffic volumes, provide a smoother ride, and eliminate mud and dust.
Gravel roads require grading, shaping, dust control, and regular addition of gravel. These costs depend on traffic volume and weight. Lightly used roads may be ideal for conversion to gravel because the maintenance costs will be relatively low. However, higher volume paved roads in disrepair will probably be better off being patched because of the higher maintenance cost of going gravel. Municipalities should examine roads on a case by case basis, as not all roads will have the same costs.
Case Study
Shiawasseee County, Michigan—Several municipalities in Shiawassee County, MI are turning deteriorated paved roads back into gravel roads. A one-mile stretch of road maintained by the Shiawassee County Road Commission is in such disrepair that the road will be returned to gravel. With asphalt prices doubling in the last decade, the Commission sees no other option because road revenue has not increased. Other Michigan counties (Gratiot, Kent, and Ionia) have also started to revert some paved roads back to gravel.
Agricultural Worker Transportation Case Study
