At first glance, it would seem that there is no argument that a paved road is significantly better than a gravel one. It requires less maintenance, after all, and is more comfortable and safe to drive on.

Thus, the question arises as to why just a tiny fraction of the roads in the Town of Mono are paved — much less than most rural municipalities, among them Melancthon.

However, at second and third glance, paving is not the be-all, end-all it appears to be.

Mono public works director Mike Dunmore explains that paved roads usually require a second coat of asphalt two years after the first coat is applied.

"This should hold good for eight to ten years, provided the base underneath is good."

This could indicate that Mono council — under pressure to keep property tax increases to a minimum in its 2009 budget — was not being proactive when it decided not to spend $1.1 million on paving Five Sideroad between Airport Road and the Mono-Adjala town line.

After all, the town has a $1.3-million road maintenance budget and that includes an annual purchase of 35,000 tonnes of gravel at $8 per ton.

Then again, Mr. Dunmore says that "the idea that you can pave and don't have to go back for eight to ten years is fiction."

And all that gravel is not exclusively for gravel roads.

For example, the gravel shoulders must be maintained with graders and what is called a "retriever," which pulls gravel and sod into the area directly opposite the travelled surface and lessens the loss of gravel into the ditches.

The shoulders are dragged in for a day to dry and then spread back out. This eliminates the occurrence of what is known as a "second ditch."

As winter sand and weeds accumulate on shoulders, they build up to a level above the pavement.

This doesn't allow rain water run-off into the ditches and will create a second ditch between the pavement and the shoulder. In heavy rains and runoff periods, the second ditch could undermine the pavement and cause excessive cracking.

Still, paved roads don't require dust treatment the overall grading that gravel roads do. Exactly how much grading is required by the average gravel road is, in Mr. Dunmore's words, a "hard question to answer.

"In a perfect world, one or two times over the course of a summer, and maybe never on flat sections. Hills require touchups periodically."

He says the weather and traffic are a larger factor on gravel roads. "Hard rains and traffic cause potholes," says Mr. Dunmore. "Excessive acceleration on hills causes washboard effects."

Quality of gravel is also a factor. If the fracture count on gravel is high and the silt content is high, the gravel packs better than roads with too many round stones.

Mono has switched to "M" class gravel, with a 5/8-inch crush, as opposed to the "A" class with its 3/4-inch crush.

It seems to present another case for paved roads.

It has to be taken into account, though, that both A and M gravel, as well as "B" grade fill are required before a road can be paved.

As well, in the case of older roads, the fill (or the first layer) of the road) is comprised of such things, like tree stumps and top soil, that were on hand when the road was first built.

This type of fill cannot support pavement and has to be entirely removed if paving is to take place.

Finally, there's the fact that drivers gravitate toward the paved roads. Provincial regulations require that the more the traffic on a particular road, the more patrols by public works crews have to be made.

The increased traffic levels often have Mono residents calling in and saying they actually prefer the road past their homes to be gravel, not paved.

Mr. Dunmore recalls talking to a man who wanted the road past his residence paved.

One half hour later, the man's wife called and advised Mr. Dunmore not to listen to a thing her husband said.

Traffic studies are currently being conducted on recently-paved sections of road to determine if, and how much, traffic has increased from the time the roads were gravel.

In conclusion, Mr. Dunmore figures whether gravel roads are more practical than paved roads, or vice-versa, is "the million dollar question" and can only be answered by monitoring and studying the town road system over a period of time.