2019-08-06 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   6 AUGUST 2019




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SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                            6 AUGUST 2019

                                                                                                  Noosa Shire Council
                                                                            Guiding Principles for Sealing Gravel Roads

              1.0     Background

              Noosa Council manages and maintains 197km of unsealed gravel roads. This document has been
              developed to provide a set of guiding principles in prioritising the current unsealed gravel road network for
              roads that may be considered for sealing into the future. The guiding principles will enable staff to suitably
              respond to customer requests for sealing of gravel roads and clearly identify the priority order of the
              unsealed gravel roads within this program.
              Expectations of the public regarding the level of service provided by the road network are increasing. This
              is evident by customer requests to have their unsealed gravel roads, sealed. The customer requests raise
              concerns such as speeding, pot holes, missing links, and dust. However, the majority of gravel roads will
              remain unsealed due to the current gravel road network is achieving the intended level of service, cost of
              upgrades and the lack of traffic volumes to justify a benefit to the greater community.
              These principles have been separated into rural gravel road and urban gravel road components to ensure
              that an equitable criteria in assessment is determined. The guiding principles enables staff to respond to
              community concerns and requests as well as plan for potential road upgrade works and provide support to
              upgrading other infrastructure such as road bridges, culverts and floodways.

              2.0     Unsealed Gravel Roads

              Noosa Council manages 146 unsealed gravel roads across the road network. Unsealed gravel roads are
              maintained in accordance with Council’s recurrent maintenance guidelines which sets outthe level of service
              for routine maintenance (e.g. grading, drain cleaning and vegetation clearing/slashing). Additionally, each
              gravel road will be inspected and receive maintenance every 6 months unless there are other emergent
              issues that require immediate action.
              Council receives requests from customers asking for the sealing of hinterland gravel roads. Residents
              purchase properties on gravel roads knowingly, and the property prices generally reflect the access
              conditions to those properties. Typical customer enquiries and their responses can be viewed below:
                  e   Speeding — Some residents believe that by sealing a gravel road it will make the road safer.
                      However, speeding rates statistically increase once a road is sealed. Council encourages the
                      community to contact the Police directly for any witnessed speeding issues.
                  e   Pot Holes and Corrugations — Often generated by a combination of wet weather, higher traffic
                      volumes, or heavy vehicle traffic. Major potholes can be rectified on request however routine
                      maintenance is regularly undertaken.
                  e   Missing. Links — Many gravel roads have sections of the road sealed. This is generally due to the
                      financial resources available and therefore only certain sections could be sealed. The remaining
                      sections of the road are highlighted as a missing link road for future consideration and prioritisation
                      for sealing.
                  e   Dust-— Gravel roads.in Noosa will generate dust and it should be expected, particularly during dry
                      weather periods. It is unlikely that dust will play any role in prioritising a gravel road's likelihood for
                      being sealed.

              Additionally, the sealing of short lengths of unsealed roads (or dust seals) adjacent to residences for the
              purpose of reducing dust nuisance is not considered appropriate for the following reasons;
                  e   _Itis inefficient to undertake upgrading and maintenance of short sections of roads.
                  e   The practice does not accord with the prioritisation process which has been developed.
                  e   Undertaking such works would reduce the available funding of upgrading higher priority roads.

              Noosa Shire Council                                                                                   2

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