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
              2.1     Road Hierarchy

              Council's road network is classified according to each roads function and capacity. Noosa Council regularly
              monitors vehicle traffic numbers by utilising traffic counter installations. It is important to identify significant
              changes to traffic volumes to ensure the particular road is fit for purpose.
              Table 1 below illustrates the various roads classifications within the road hierarchy:
                                             Table 1 - Noosa Rural Road Hierarchy

                          a             Collects traffic from local and/or collector streets forming principal
                     Distributer
                                        avenues of travel
                     Collector          Collects traffic from local access streets
                                        Serving local properties
                     Unformed Road     Frovides access to one or two properties, are essentially tracks or
                                         riveways.

              2.2   | Unformed Roads

              An unformed or unconstructed road is defined as a road that has,not been improved or shaped in a
              significant way. Council receives periodic requests from the community to include unformed roads into
              Council’s road network, these roads totalapproximately 20km. Historically, Council has not accepted
              responsibility for maintenance due to the low standard of their construction. Generally, these unformed roads
              provide access to one or two properties and are essentially tracks.or driveways. Many unformed roads
              traverse steep or low lying areas with inadequate drainage and are usually formed without consideration of
              pavement material.

              3.0     Rural Gravel.Roads

              3.1.    Assessment and Prioritisation Criteria

              Generally, road design, upgrades, and maintenance prioritisation decisions are based on a road hierarchy
              classification and traffic volumes.

              The prioritisation, process involves, consideration of the below criteria, and as presented in Table 2. In
              addition to the road)hierarchy, there are several other criteria taken into consideration when assessing rural
              gravel road prioritisation for an upgrade from an unsealed to a sealed road. This prioritisation criteria is a
              tisk based approach with vehicle crash history being a major influence.
                  e  Crash &Road Safety History
                          All registered accidents recorded through Queensland Road Crash Database in the past 5
                          years. A higher crash frequency and severity including single to multiple fatalities or single to
                          multiple hospitalisations will result in a higher score. It is to be noted that only reported crashes
                          documented within the Queensland Road Crash Database have been used to compile this
                          ranking system.
                  e   Road Design & Geometry
                          The width and alignment of a road in its existing condition. Road characteristics including
                          straight sections with a formed pavement width of 6m or more are ranked advantageously,
                          alternatively, narrow formed roads with corners will not score as high in this category. Where
                          gravel roads have substandard design, sealing may reduce the likelihood of accidents.

              Noosa Shire Council                                                                                  3

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