Can’t there be a better way to pave?

To the editor:

Is the county highway department in a conspiracy with the local tire dealers? Recent actions cast suspicion in that direction.

Not long ago, many of the paved roads in my part of the county were patched, for lack of a better word. The surface was covered with tar, and then fine gravel was spread over the tar, a common practice. The result is a surface akin to extremely coarse sandpaper, which seems to me to wear out tires much faster than a smooth surface.

I don’t think it’s my imagination, it makes sense that a very rough surface would cause more wear as the rubber flexes on contact with the road surface.

I wonder if any research has been done on this. If my suspicions are correct, I would rather stop the practice, which would require us to pay twice — once to do the work and again with new tires.

Robert Hudson

Pelham