You really can't, not for any substantial length of time.
First, you create horrible traffic distortions - a place like LA or Boston simply can't load adjacent streets with more traffic and expect good outcomes. Second, you effectively shut down any business on that block, especially in an area that isn't walking friendly. You also cause huge problems for anyone living and parking at that street.
High density areas are a small portion of streets by area, but not by use (and therefore wear) or by cost. I suspect that a mile of highway is often cheaper to replace than a block of dense urban road.
In this small town there's like 3 or 4 miles of commercial streets and dozens and dozens of miles of paved streets.
Of course streets don't get shut down for weeks of prep work, but the paving will be done when the machine and crew are available and probably not at night.
Ok, totally true. I was thinking in terms of the article, so primarily about NYC. In places like that there's a lot of frontage which is basically never supposed to close.
