Using levels of service to improve maintenance

The One Network Road Classification was developed by the Road Efficiency Group (REG) to provide consistent levels of service for each class of road. 

Central Otago District reported on its experience of applying the classification system, which has been posted as a case study on the REG website. Its findings included:

• For unsealed low volume roads the level of service was lower than the target set under the classification scheme. Additional funding has been sought to increase the level of service.
• For sealed roads, the level of service was higher than the target. The volume of work to be undertaken on the sealed network will be reduced.
• The ONRC accessibility reporting requirements did not fully cover the case where weight restrictions on bridges meant long detours for heavy traffic.

Applying the classification system also led to the council identifying additional work needed to better manage its network, including:

• linking all sections of road to traffic counts (use is an important component in classification)
• assessing the vulnerability of routes to closure and developing both resilience improvements and emergency response plans
• allocating cost to sections of road. Cost is currently mapped to work categories rather than sections of road or service outcomes.

While the council was able to identify savings in resurfacing sealed roads, in traffic services and to continue delaying rehabilitation by attending to drainage it also provided a strong case for increasing funding for its metalling of unsealed roads and assessing bridges for HPMV traffic and resilience.

As a result of this review the maintenance allocation for Central Otago District has increased 13%, which is above the overall increase for local roads.

The full report on the experience of Central Otago District can be found here(external link).