And in the USA some rural areas have been "unpaving" roads because they have done the financial math : https://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructu...

https://www.nap.edu/read/21935/chapter/1

very limited discussion a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15272140

The third world has a lot more miles of dirt roads than paved roads. The slightly more expencive gravel roads are fine for suburban cul-de-sac‘a / side streets that don’t get that much traffic.

They kick up a shitload of dust so everything is dirty all of the time. They also become unusable/get destroyed in the rain. It makes sense for rural roads since the expense is massive and the dust not so much of an issue.

The dust is much less when speeds are kept lower, such as suburban cul-de-sacs as GP states. Dust can be further mitigated with an annual oil coat.

A well built gravel road will have a decent amount of rock which drains in the rain without turning to mud, culverts are needed on the steeper slopes to limit erosion.

While the total cost is much less than asphalt, dirt roads do need more regular maintenance which municipalities frequently try to skimp on.

A good read of the pro's and con's: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-10/documents...

You'd be surprised how many unpaved roads there are. Even in Europe

https://i.redd.it/4xau5auzqg741.png