Maybe you've noticed it too. It seems that tight money in highway budgets across the country and here in Pennsylvania means more worn out concrete highways are being repaired by paving them with asphalt. It's a lot cheaper and faster to pave with asphalt instead of breaking up the old concrete and then rebuilding the roadway with concrete.

I've always wondered in years past why Pennsylvania spent so much money on rebuilding concrete interstates, rather than paving them with asphalt. A good example is Interstate 83 south of York where it meets the Maryland state line. The concrete sections of I-83 in York County were uneven, cracked and created lots of tire noise. Then you'd drive over the Maryland state line and suddenly I-83 was smooth and quiet when the surface changed to asphalt.

The black color of an asphalt highway also means any ice build-up in winter melts more quickly than on concrete because the dark color absorbs heat from sunlight. The worst icing situations I have ever seen were on concrete highways.

The noise from concrete highways is now more of a issue than ever because of growing neighborhoods pushing ever closer to major highways. A concrete section of Rt. 222 in Lancaster County was paved with asphalt in recent years and residents near that section of highway tell me the noise was greatly reduced.

While it's true an asphalt surface doesn't last as long as concrete, I still think the pros outweigh the cons.

What do you think?