What's with the rough roads?

The highway department paved a stretch of road outside of town. My kid
says it sounds like a jet plane ride. It really does "roar" at speed.

The surface looks almost like solid gravel. I think its macadam blacktop
with extra helpings of pea gravel. The road is no longer black but looks
more like pebbly concrete and is very rough, though very flat.

Could this be a new style of surface? Perhaps to stand up better to
traffic than the much quieter standard blacktop?

Am I wrong to think it abrades tires faster? I would think the more noise,
the more frictional working of the tread as it passes over the roadway. I
have noticed wheel tracks that are darker than the center portion. Could
this be abraded tire material?

Who makes these driver unfriendly decisions and whats the remedy if it my
suspicions do turn out to be true?

 

If what you suspect is true, that's not necessarily driver unfriendly.
May be an effort to improve tire grip, esp. in wet conditions, and I
suspect that it would work. After all, asphalt, which is by nature
rougher than concrete, gives much better grip.

nate

 

What you likely have is "reground" or "re-laid" ashphalt.
A "Rotomill" chews up the surface, heats it and mixes it with
additional asphalt, and re-lays it - all in one motion.
USUALLY it is then covered with a light layer of fine asphalt to seal
it and make it smooth and "pretty" but more and more up here, on
secondary roads in particular, it is left with the rough surface.
Can't say as how it improves traction any.