There might be an alternative, which provides a better surface at less cost than bare gravel. When I lived in Canada’s far north, the Highways department discovered that a “bituminous surface treatment” (BST) surface was cheaper than gravel, in the long run. (BST is something like tar — it looks like asphalt paving; but it’s not as thick and solid). That’s because a gravel road needs a lot more routine maintenance — including replacement of material lost through dust clouds — than a “paved” surface. Only the main highways, near major settlements, are paved (with asphalt); but, most of the secondary roads have a BST surface.
The BST surface is much safer to drive on, and almost eliminates windshield damage from flying gravel. (Before BST, nearly every windshield in the North was chipped or cracked.)
We use to call that blacktop and is excellent for light duty traffic.
There are also some novel polymer and cement treating methods that work excellently to produce a cheap, smooth driving surface that haven’t gained much traction here due to aesthetics. They “drive” like a paved road but look like dirt.
Oh, and also there is a phenomenal rubberized chip seal/rehabilitation material I’ve worked with once so far that is amazing. It’s made with asphalt emulsion and quantities of virgin and recycled rubber granules. It is insanely effective, I’ve seen before and after pics followed by years after and the latter still looked like they just did it. I actually saved some of the material to experiment with making a pellet/bullet trap with it.
The BST surface is much safer to drive on, and almost eliminates windshield damage from flying gravel. (Before BST, nearly every windshield in the North was chipped or cracked.)
Lots of roads like that in Arizona, but here they are called “chip seal”.
Our HOA costs them at about 1/4 of an asphalt overlay.