JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- The harsh winter took a toll on mid Missouri roads, leaving them riddled with potholes.
And as gas prices soar, drivers are left questioning what's really best for our wallets and our tires.
KRCG’s Meghan Lane looked into whether asphalt or concrete is best.
Concrete promoters said concrete remains one of the most durable, cost and energy efficient means of paving.
And some said in today’s environmentally aware world concrete makes sense for many reasons.
They said it requires less maintenance and repair which means less money spent.
They said it also has less resistance on traffic flow, in other words better gas mileage for both cars and trucks.
But while concrete promoters said their product is best, asphaltroads.org said 94% of America’s roadways are surfaced with asphalt and it's difficult to directly compare asphalt to concrete
They said it's like comparing apples to oranges.
To really know which is better, asphalt or concrete, a study would have to be done to determine the difference in flow, terrain, smoothness, tire inflation pressure and driver behavior.
Asphaltroads.org also said pavement roughness, not pavement type is ultimately responsible for differences in vehicle fuels consumption.
In other words, we need to get rid of potholes.
The site reported Americans burn 175 billion gallons of fuel driving 3 trillion miles a year.
They say if the roads in America were slightly smoother we could save about 4% of the fuel consumed.
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