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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
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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.
Bituminous Products • Class 170 bitumen (per tonne) Industry Factors COUNCIL RATE INCREASES 5% • Quarry Products • 35 – 40% increase since 2008 • Fuel Costs • Transport cost increases • Employee Costs • 4.5% per annum
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
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
External Factors • Products to Market • Plantation example
Sealing of Rural Roads • Special Charge Schemes • $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
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
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 world Rate 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