Yes, have had experience with street print asphalt when serving as grounds committee chairman on a large southern plantation. As plantation roads needed resurfacing we had the simple brick pattern print asphalt installed to delineate golf cart pathways across the roadways as an additional safety measure. The price was right. Many residents mentioned to me how much they liked the idea. The process had just been introduced and the company installing it was looking for a showcase spot. Then the downtown area began using the idea for cross walks in its revitalization projects. Very attractive addition to the street scape. Visited there last month and all seems to be weathering well. However, before using this method on a major driveway surface I would want to meet with a company rep and visit some of their large installations.

Wow! lots of strong opinions, but that's what I was looking for by posting... FYI: re: maintenance: it's currently gravel, so anything will be easier to shovel/sweep. We live in "Snow country" but actually don't. Front range Colorado: where we are lucky enough to get frequent snow but it is so sunny that it will usually melt on its own in 24-36 hours if it hasn't been compacted by something (like a car or footprints!) re: sizing/spacing: we ride our bikes ~80% of the time, so our car/truck doesn't turn over much and we don't really go for unusual stuff. We've measured out 3 foot wide strips with 3 feet in between and that will cover our full size pickup truck as well as our station wagon. re: maintenance: I'm thinking mulch or gravel. I like the post re: the diamond shape pavers with grass in between and what I originally thought we'd use, but as the next poster mentions: weeds and snow and ice: not sure we could shovel that at all (vs. the 2 strips for the ribbon drive). Add to that the fact we are a high desert: don't want to add thirsty grass if I don't have to. In the future I'd like to do some kind of hearty ground cover, but that will be in the future, when we have more time to weed in between the starts while they get established. So... Think we're going with a ribbon driveway. We'll likely do two continuous strips (as another poster pointed out: otherwise that is ALOT of forms to build) and have it poured. It will cut materials cost by 40% and not add much in labor. I will post pictures and experiences: I couldn't find many examples! (FYI: our current drive is not to code (we are in the city and are not supposed to have gravel drive, but it's been grandfathered in) but the ribbon drives are: we are in a historic part of town and to boot, they are more friendly for runoff (again: front range doesn't get lots of soaking rains: more often just 20 minutes of a downpour, so I like to reduce runoff if possible!) and will evenutally caue less thermal abosption (if we can get away with gravel) so the city is fine with it... Thanks for all the opinions and if anyone else has some input, please have at it!

Here's the link showing the asphalt going down after the paver edging is set. Just requires some care. To be doubly secure of a firm edge, I would anchor the paving stones with an edging restraint. (Not shown.) The one-inch cap on our driveway was put down by the previous owner, within the last 15 years, I gather from the neighbours. The section pictured began falling apart after the POs removed the dumpster they used to "pack"; no protective plywood was placed under it. You can also see the crack patterns that are everywhere. I don't know when these started reappearing. (It's a teardown, so I don't care much.) Since the expected useful life of an asphalt driveway is ten years, according to HUD (see table C-3), I'd say they got their money's worth.

I cannot recall seeing a concrete driveway in our neighborhood. I mostly see asphalt (blacktop) driveways and a handful of paver drive ways. I am starting to see more and more paver driveways though. Some other houses in the neighborhood had a paver driveway recently installed in the last few months. It looks really decorative but that's while it new. I've seen some other houses with paver driveways that are a few years old and some have started bulging, sinking, become overlayed with weeds and also seen them with intricate line of moss as well. It seems either an asphalt or paver driveway would need some kind of maintenance, but I'm going to make the assumption that asphalt is easier to maintain.