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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.

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