Image here Effective Road Maintenance on Limited Budgets Grantley Switzer General Manager...

Image here

Effective Road Maintenance on Limited Budgets

Grantley Switzer

General Manager Recreation, Culture and Community Infrastructure

Latrobe City Council

Latrobe City

• 1 of Victoria’s four Regional Cities

• Community of 75,000

• 4 main towns, 7 small towns

• Small geographical area, 1422 square kilometres

• 1,558 km’s of roads

Today’s Presentation• Roads to Recovery• Industry Factors

• Sealing of Rural Roads• Products to Market

• Road Rehabilitation Program• Special Charge Schemes• Construction Standards• State Budget Implications

• The Environment• Other Challenges• The Ideal World

The Starting Point

Some of the specific objectives or key outcome areas for road network maintenance planning are:

• to facilitate road asset maintenance decisions so that road assets perform effectively throughout their service lives, to appropriate standards, which have been set with due consideration of community expectations;

• to provide a basis for establishing maintenance funding decisions; and

• to assist the determination of funding levels for capital works and maintenance.

Industry Factors

Bituminous Products

Class 170 bitumen (per tonne)

Date Value

Jan-05 $522.50

Jan-06 $607.50

Jan-07 $657.50

Jan-08 $734.17

Jan-09 $867.50

Jan-10 $847.50

Jan-11 $917.50

Jan-12 $1014.17

Apr-12 $1037.50

Quarry Products

35 – 40% increase since 2008

Fuel Costs

Transport cost increases

Employee Costs

4.5% per annum

COUNCIL RATE

INCREASES 5%

Roads to Recovery

• A great program• No ongoing commitment from Federal Government – lack of

certainty in the future• Removal would result in massive budget deficits

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Draft$1,038,000 $1,175,000 $1,175,000 $1,175,000 $1,175,000

Sealing of Rural Roads

Road Rehabilitation Program

• Latest 10 year program developed in 2007/08• In five years the program has been pushed out to being a 15

year program• $15 million in funding arrears• Political backlash - low

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Draft$1,438,000 $1,785,000 $2,540,000 $2,900,000 $3,350,000

External Factors

Products to Market

Plantation example

Year VicRoads Latrobe City

Council

Total

2010 – 2011 $442,500 $1,145,307 $1,587,807 2011 – 2012 $300,000 $892,000 $1,192,000 2012 – 2013 $300,000 $557,000 $857,000 Grand Total: $1,042,500 $2,594,307 $3,636,807

Sealing of Rural Roads• $250,000 per annum from Council’s capital works program since 2007/08 – monies held in reserve.• 1 project completed• 4 projects in the pipeline

Special Charge Schemes

No of residents Resident Contribution Latrobe City Contribution

Project 1 5 $25,000 $275,000

Project 2 17 $85,000 $240,000

Project 3 3 $15,000 $115,000

Project 4 13 $65,000 $260,000

Total 38 $190,000 $890,000

The Environment

Extent of fire events – Feb 2009

Delburn –

6,500 hectares

Churchill/ Jeeralang –

25,800 hectares

Impact to Infrastructure

• 1 bridge damaged beyond repair

• App 30 km of sealed road pavement damaged, requiring re-sheet

• Guardrails / signs / guideposts etc (around 4,200!)

The Drought Breaks

• Increased works in 10/11 and 11/12

Major patches ↑

Drainage issues / complaints ↑

Gravel Road Re-sheets ↑

• Latrobe City has been able to ‘get by’ with stagnant or diminishing budgets for most years since 2000

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 DraftGravel Road Re-sheet Program $460,000 $460,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000Gravel Roads - Minor Sealing Works Program $140,000 $140,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000

Piggery Road, Boolarra

Piggery Road, Boolarra

Other considerations

Latrobe City Challenges

• Ageing workforce• Skill Shortages• Community Expectations• Tree Changers• Growth

Council’s response

Construction Standards

• Now more sophisticated and demanding than ever (minimum pavement thickness conditions demanded)

• Planning / approval / inspection / handover regime has increased dramatically

State Budget Implications

• Local Government feel the pain also!• Residents don’t see or understand (or care) about the demarcation lines• Key focus for Latrobe City is safety and presentation – for Vic Roads

focus will move to safety

An ideal worldRate rises and budget allocations consistent with:• Increases in costs (wages, salaries, materials, etc.)• At minimum, keep pace with CPI (but should be related to costs of bituminous products, fuel costs,

quarry products, etc.)• Take a whole of life approach to the maintenance of the asset• Consider municipal growth• Working in partnership with other agencies