Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 July 2016
835. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated current road maintenance deficit on national, regional and local roads; the projected cost of fully funding this deficit; the additional costs that will be incurred by delaying this investment by national, regional and local road category; the impact increasing traffic volumes will have on the deficit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24036/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport estimates that the annual exchequer funding required to maintain roads in a "steady state" condition is €950 million. This takes account of PPP commitments and also allows for income from tolls and for some investment in roads from the local authority sector. Under the Capital Plan this target in terms of steady state maintenance should be achieved in 2020.
World Bank Transport Note (TRN-4) notes that postponing road maintenance results in high direct and indirect costs. If road defects are repaired promptly, the cost is usually modest. If defects are neglected, an entire road section may fail completely, requiring full reconstruction at three times or more the cost, on average, of maintenance costs. The South African National Road Agency Ltd. (SANRAL) estimates that repair costs rise to six times maintenance costs after three years of neglect and to 18 times after five years of neglect.
Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) cause most of the damage to road pavements and where the volume of such vehicles increases from year to year it will of course shorten the overall life of a road pavement and intervention will be required at an earlier stage.
The Capital Plan includes proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. The transport element of the plan was framed by the conclusions reached in the Department of Transport’s Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport. This report highlighted the importance of maintenance and renewal of transport infrastructure together with targeted investments to address particular bottlenecks and critical safety issues.
