$3k to just fill in the ovals with concrete? I would get another estimate or two, it seems high to me.

Only worry with gravel is that it will be tossed out by cars driving over it. I don't want to live my life with a broom in hand.

K Laurence, that bid was for replacing 1/2 of the drive. 18' X 18'.

Btw, if you fill with pea gravel, place a layer of weed barrier cloth under it to keep weeds out.

"Only worry with gravel is that it will be tossed out by cars driving over it."

Which pea gravel will definitely be inclined to do!! If you fill the openings with rock make sure it is a crushed rock, like road base or other small sharp edged gravel. It will compact and form a very solid yet permeable surface.

No landscape fabric!! Any weeds can be easily addressed by a herbicide or torching.

Boiling water is also very effective at spot killing weeds.

A friend had very good luck with pea gravel...it was sprayed with polyurethane to hold it in place.

You might want to see about just having the ovals filled in with cement & if you’re worried about a match concrete can be stamp patterned & stained to look like brick, stone or whatever. Personally, I would just try having the ovals filled in first... depending upon how much of a feature ( how prominent ) your driveway is.

A piece of indoor-outdoor carpet in a neutral color. Won't last forever but easy and cheap to replace.

The genius did it for drainage and to prevent oil stained concrete. Depending on what your front yard looks like and where your located anything from above mentioned gravel to fake grass would work.

I think the fake grass idea would look nice. I don't know how it would hold up to cars riding over it, but if it holds up to the wear and tear of kids I don't see a problem. You would have the nicest looking green grass of any neighbor during the winter. lol

Pea gravel will be kicked out too easily. Better solution: river rocks pressed into the dirt. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/297800594106633800/
Landscape fabric under gravel is nonsensical: it kills the soil (for instance, earthworms are trapped and drown) and gravel on top slides around. Also, silt builds up and you still get weeds. Boiling water is best...never use chemicals.

I have some creeping thyme that nothing will kill. If I were you, I'd look for indestructible groundcovers. It will be prettier and you'll have drainage.

I hate gravel, it does move around. It's hard to tell if your DW is sloped or just the pic is tilted, but if there's a slope, a torrential rain might wash gravel away. My gravel has weeds in it. A few less where there's landscape fabric, a few more where there isn't. I spray more often than I'd like to and the weeds still grow. If you're going to do gravel, put fabric down. It's not perfect, but it's better than no fabric.

For patching in I would rule out any kind of gravel fill, but especially pea gravel as it's not a suitable paving surface under any circumstances. It doesn't pack down, squishes and scatters under foot or under tires. Other kinds of gravel would pack down so would be better, but they won't keep entirely in place under vehicular traffic. Plain concrete would be the lowest maintenance and probably cheapest long term solution. Decorative forms of hard paving would be fine but will cost more. While fake grass would look fine, I don't think it will hold up. The first time someone turned the wheel while the car is stopped is going to pull the fabric out of place.

The $3K bid does not sound out of line for REPLACING a large portion of the drive. Obviously, it would be a lot cheaper just to patch in the ovals. That could even be a DIY project if someone was handy.

In order to know if a price is in line, create a plan on paper with accurate measurements, showing what work is to be done. Get 3 different bids on that exact plan. You'll be able to judge where the price ball park is for your geographical area. And in the pricing process you'll probably get a feel for how easy or difficult it will be to work with a particular contractor.

Might be a little tricky with the curves, but....

fake grass under:

or:

www.stepables.com

I am not recommending it, but if you were going to use gravel, a woven polypropylene landscape textile (not a cheap weed "prevention"fabric) would be useful for separating the gravel from the soil, in case it were ever removed in the future, and also because it adds a great deal of stability to the gravel surface. It is much harder to depress the surface by a heavy weight when a non-stretchy fabric underlies the gravel. A proper installation, though, would require the fabric to extend beyond the gravel edges by at least a foot. It would be hard to do with the concrete in place.

I wouldn't recommend the grass-crete type pavers. These are prone to sinking and wallowing a great deal more than conventional pavers. Where it shows up is next to solid surfaces, such as curbs or any paving that is adjacent to the grass-crete pavers. It could be be a significant mismatch.

The "genius" assumed people would drive in a straight line, turning at the bottom of the driveway, not in the middle. I love ribbon driveways and I would consider this a plus, whatever you filled it with — plants, quarter/ten gravel (not pea gravel) or whatever.