interesting. I noticed something similar in the UK but not in Germany. Maybe some simple change in the way these utility repairs are regulated is to blame?

While interstates are nice, cities are where people live, so the quality of urban roads matters and is maybe the reason for the perception of US roads?

It happens in Germany as well though, not even that infrequently. It’s particularly common with the recent push for FTTH connections.

At my parents place, they resurfaced to road a few years ago. Only for Deutsche Telekom to swoop in a year later and dig in their FTTC gear. Street was patched after, but reasonably well. At least we got faster internet back then