Maintaining the Sealed Network

In the short term the paramount concern for our Council is to prevent a complete collapse of our local road infrastructure. Council will be focused on maintaining the sealed road network that is currently in place and reaching a level of network sustainability. In addition to the proposed works listed in Part B page 3 of this application

Council will be able to implement a broader program that includes the following initiatives:

•    Reducing Rural Reseals from a 15 to 10 year cycle thereby increasing total road life from 30 years to 40 years.
•    Enable a more rigorous Rural Heavy Patching and Rehabilitation program that will include vital causeways.
•    In addition to table drain re-shaping vital maintenance will be performed on culverts to limit the impact significant rain events will have on the road network.
•    Reducing Urban Reseals from a 15 to 10 year cycle thereby increasing total road life from 40 years to 50 years.
•    Enable an Urban Heavy Patching and Rehabilitation program that will focus on failed pavement in critical areas of the community.
•    Improved Urban Drainage repair and renewal.
•    Deliver comprehensive and sustainable planned works through a maintenance management system (MMS) pursuant to a long term asset plan. These works
     include; inspection, condition assessment, prioritising, scheduling, actioning and reporting.
•    Deliver comprehensive and sustainable cyclic works pursuant to a long term asset plan. These works do not increase the asset’s design capacity but restores,
     rehabilitates, replaces or renews an existing asset to its original service potential.

Council’s asset management plan has identified key maintenance shortfalls in our local road network. Additional revenue is required to mitigate further deterioration and close the current funding gap. Protection of the existing bitumen seal through a heavy patching, drainage maintenance and bitumen sealing program would be implemented on strategic local road routes to support continuing growth in our community and agricultural industry.
The success of the special variation proposal in holistic terms will allow Council to maintain the current seal network of 610km. At current funding levels any portion of the network that fails can not be replaced and in the short term Council will only be able to sustain 394km of seal or approximately 64% of the current network. This figure will continue to reduce without intervention. Projections indicate that Council will only have the resources available to maintain approximately 40% of the sealed local road network by the year 2016. This has the potential to cause a collapse of the local grain and fibre industries and severely detriment the shires school bus routes and general commuting within the shire. The additional revenue will supplement Council’s current shire road maintenance budget to bolster much needed maintenance programs. As the revenue is utilised towards capital maintenance programs on road infrastructure a degree of flexibility exists in determining where the funds will be spent. In consultation with the Moree Road Improvement Committee, Council will prioritise expenditure based on road condition and the road asset hierarchy.

Road Improvement Committee

The Moree Road Improvement Committee evolved out of the “Fix the Roads” Committee. This committee was established during 2005 through a series of community meetings to address the issues that were being highlighted in relation to the poor condition of the road network and its integrated relationship to all rural services.

Membership of this committee is made up of the two Councillors and six community representatives. The Committee meets on a regular basis facilitated by the Director of Engineering Services. Agenda issues include asset condition, community and technical levels of service, access to services, economic development and available funding sources. Expressions of Interest are being sought by community for participation on this committee.
Road Hierarchy The road asset hierarchy was developed in consultation with the community and is a method of prioritising road maintenance programs based on the importance of certain roads within the shire e.g arterials to significant on-farm grain storages, feedlots, cotton gins. The hierarchy takes into account freight movements including agriculture produce transport, school bus routes, community links, traffic movement for machinery and access to major employment centres.
Below: The current rural sealed network is indicated on the shire map by the blue and light pink lines. At a minimum Council’s goal is to maintain this network.