Road Seal Extension Policy

Policies

1. Purpose

This policy details the approach taken by Timaru District Council to prioritising and funding road seal extension projects within the District.

2. Background

The Timaru District Council actively supports road seal extensions in the District that meet policy criteria.
The principles on which this policy is based are:

  1. Appropriate Criteria:
    • The policy must use relevant factors that can be objectively assessed.
  2. Fairness:
    • The policy established must be perceived by most people as fair and consistent. The policy should ideally be:
  3. Effective:
    • Evidence based and logical in application;
    • Consistent over time.
  4. Transparency:
    • The prioritisation system uses simple mechanisms easily understood by all.
  5. Community Benefit:
    • Recognition that communities are interdependent and the cost of seal extensions cannot rationally be placed on the specific user.
  6. Uniform Availability: 
    • That funding is provided by all District communities, and projects must be considered in a District wide manner for entire District community benefit.
  7. Funding Efficiency:
    • Funding from sources external to Council will be maximised (e.g. government funding assistance, contributions).

3. Key Definitions

Contribution: Funding provided by an external person/ratepayer, organisation or trust.

Funding Assistance: Previously referred to as “Subsidy” or “Financial Assistance”. This shall mean the government funding assistance from National Land Transport Programme allocated by New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for activities.

Road: This is the designated Council road and has the meaning assigned to it as defined in the Local Government Act 1974, section 315, and Land Transport Act 1998, part 1, section 2.

Seal: The surfacing known in New Zealand as a chipseal and consist stone chip embedded in a 1-2mm think film of bituminous (or synthetic) binder, to provide a thin waterproofing layer as the top surface of a pavement.

Seal extension: Increasing the sealed carriageway pavement length.

Unless specifically defined in this policy, all words and expressions shall have the meaning as defined in the Local Government Act 1974 and 2002, the Land Transport Act 1998, and any Acts passed in amendment or substitution thereof.

4. Policy

  1. Road seal extensions will be prioritised using the prioritisation guidelines in this policy.
  2. Council will fund seal extensions to a budget determined during the Long Term/Annual Plan process.
  3. Council will seek to maximise funding assistance from NZTA and contributions for seal extensions
  4. Council may undertake road seal extensions that are not eligible for funding assistance or contributions (100% Council funded) in special circumstances subject to approval by the District Services Committee.
  5. Council will monitor all unsealed roads and any changes are documented in the road asset management software.
  6. Ratepayers or residents wishing to seal the road adjacent to their property at their own cost will require Council approval before proceeding. All sealing work must meet Council standards and generally adjoin an existing seal.
  7. If a road is a priority for seal extension, and either ratepayers, road users, or other interested parties, agree to fund fifty percent (50%) of the construction and project management cost then the road seal extension project will be given priority subject to funding availability for Council’s share.

5. Prioritisation Guidelines

Potential road seal extension projects will be prioritised considering the following factors:

  • Traffic volumes;
  • Number of houses on the section of road proposed to be sealed;
  • Economic benefits (likely cost / benefit ratio);
  • Road hierarchy (importance of road in the Timaru District roading network).

Each of the factors is evaluated as high, medium or low, and given a rating score (high = 50, Medium = 30, and Low = 0).

PriorityTraffic VolumeNo. HousesEconomic Justification (BCR)Road Hierarchy
High>90>104.0 or moreCollector
Medium51 to 905 to 102.0 to 4.0Through traffic
Low<50<5<2.0Local traffic
Scoring system: High Priority = 50 / Medium Priority = 30 / Low Priority = 0


Each factor is weighted as follows:

FactorWeighting
Traffic Volumes30%
Number of Houses30%
Economic Benefits30%
Road Hierarchy10%
Total100%

Potential seal extension projects are ranked from highest to lowest score to determine priority order.

Adopted by District Service Committee - February 2016

Last updated: 28 Apr 2022