A dirt road might carry 4 cars a day, while I-95 carries hundreds of thousands. If the dirt road requires maintenance every few years, I would would wager that the cost per mile driven for the dirt road is a good deal more than for I-95.
This whole article is stupid from a mathematical and engineering point of view. It is just emotion-based nonsense. That is not to say that the conclusions are necessarily wrong. There just seems to be no rational basis for them.
Well, quite a few of the dirt / gravel roads around here carry dozens to perhaps a couple hundred cars a day, but, your point is still valid. Also... Many of the dirt / gravel roads around here need maintenance 2 or more times a year just to be passable by even a Subaru Outback...
We just got back from “Land Between the Lakes” — try dropping your undercarriage onto FS road 351 — Holy crap....!!! About 15 ft. after you turn off “The Trace” there’s a semi-hidden sharp drop & a huge(!) “crater”: It’s just the first obstacle, I might add. (You gotta have a TRUE off road vehicle — and well rooted teeth — for that one. And... Maybe a sign as you turn in that says “Repent. Now!!”)
:-)
Many of the better dirt / gravel roads around here are limited to maybe 20 mph at most if you don’t want to tear up your vehicle, and again even that is assuming one’s vehicle is something like an Outback or an older Ford Explorer (not the current “mall finder” iteration.)
P.S. We got back on The Trace ok, but, gotta inspect the underside of the Outback more thoroughly tomorrow...