Most of the roads around here are on the rough side, with reddish quartzite being the rock most commonly used for chipseal. I can ride about 2 mph faster on a smooth, freshly paved asphalt road than I can on the roads with chipseal. I'd call that a significant difference.

The crews around here don't usually sweep the roads after laying the chipseal, so with the low volume of traffic we have it can take months before the loose rock disappears.

When spring comes the maintenance crews will repair the cracks that have developed in the asphalt roads over the winter by forcing hot asphalt into the cracks and then covering the repaired crack with toilet paper. I assume other places use that method, but I don't recall seeing it elsewhere.