Holladay Blvd ReSurfaced

I got out this morning onto Holladay Blvd to go to work and ran smack dab into a line up of heavy equipment.  They are resurfacing the road and it doesn't look pretty.

Aside from the momentary inconvenience of the actual work it looks like they are doing the gravel and tar thing rather than actual asphalt.  That is cheesy. 

The gravel and tar method is a lot messier than asphalt.  With asphalt trucks dump the material on the road and a huge machine manicures the surface and steamrollers smooth it out.  It is ready for full use in about an hour.

With gravel they dump a lot of tar on the road and then spread out gravel.  The cars running over it mash the gravel into the tar and eventually it becomes a solid surface.  In the mean time you have the potential of tar covered cars and broken windshields from wayward gravel. 

I know we are in an economic ice box and everyone wants to save money but Holladay Blvd is a major thoroughfare through the Salt Lake valley.  Save money on the side streets and use the good stuff on a road that will see a lot of traffic.

Also there are other users besides the cars.  Holladay Blvd is a major corridor for biking and running.  With the gravel method this surface is unuseable for at least a week and rough thereafter.  The gravel doesn't get squashed into the tar on the margins so it has to naturally settle, as slow as molasses running up hill in the winter.

This is dangerous for runners and for bikers.  Holladay took the cheap way out rather than thinking about its exercise conscious citizens.