The Assets and Development Department of the Pyrenees Shire manages the roads and infrastructure throughout the Shire. Asset management incorporates the construction and maintenance of Council infrastructure. This may include: roads, parks and gardens, open spaces, recreation and leisure facilities and other property owned or occupied by Council. Council operates Maintenance Depots in Avoca and Beaufort.
Council funds rehabilitation and upgrades of assets through a Capital expenditure budget each year. This includes expenditure on items such as roads, underground drainage, footpaths, kerb and channel. These works are prioritised based on risk and condition.
Council have taken a progressive approach to maintaining their assets by assessing the assets condition on a regular basis and undertaking action to maintain them at a target level.
Street Lighting and Signs
Council is committed to maintaining signs and street lighting in optimum operating condition in the interest of public safety and convenience. These include public lighting, street signs, directional signs, town and boundary signs.
Roads, Drainage, Footpaths, Kerb and Channel
Capital expenditure items such as roads, drainage, footpaths, kerb and channel are prioritised and allocated funding in Council's annual budget.
The Pyrenees Shire has developed a Road Management Plan to deal with the implications of the Road Management Act 2004. The purpose of the plan is to establish a management system for Council for the responsiblity of its duty to inspect, maintain and repair its public roads based on policy and operational objectives as well as available resources and community needs.
The Shire is custodian of an extensive range of community assets that it provides to facilitate delivery of services to the community. Specifically for road assets, it has responsibility for 2,048.90 kilometres of roads varying from sealed roads to access tracks and fire-tracks, 291 bridges and major culverts; 45.394 kilometres of kerb and channel and 18.659 kilometres of footpaths
There is a real need for the community to understand & recognise the level of funding that Council requires to manage all of the assets, not just the roads, for which it is responsible at a sustainable level. Currently there is a funding 'gap' between what is necessary to retain the road network at the required levels of service and what is actually being funded.
Council reviewed the Road Management Plan in April 2017 and adopted the plan June 2017.
| Road Hierarchy Classification |
Grade |
Length (km) |
Percentage Overall (%) |
Replacement Value |
Percent Overall (%) |
| Link Roads |
4 |
260 |
12.94% |
$61,150,995 |
29.73% |
| Collector Roads |
3 |
455.96 |
22.69% |
$67,843,322 |
33.0% |
| Local Access Roads |
2 |
738.5 |
36.75% |
$66,438,175 |
32.3% |
| Low Maintenance Roads & Tracks |
1 |
554.88 |
27.61% |
$637,314 |
0.3% |
| Seal Component |
|
|
|
$9,602,384 |
4.67% |
| Total |
|
2,009.7 |
100.0% |
$205,672,190 |
100.0% |
| Road Surface Type |
Length (km) |
Percentage Overall (%) |
Replacement Value |
Percentage Overall (%) |
| Roads - Sealed |
711.64 |
35.4% |
$154,209,372 |
74.98% |
| Roads - Gravel |
743.18 |
36.98% |
$50,825,503 |
24.71% |
| Low Maintenance Roads & Tracks |
554.88 |
27.62% |
$637,314 |
0.3% |
| Total |
2,009.70 |
100.0% |
$205,672,190 |
100.0% |
The Pyrenees Shire has been broken up its road network into 16 work areas. Work crews attempt to spend 2 weeks in each area when undertaking scheduled routine maintenance. Each work area is serviced approximately 3 times a year and additional emergency works are carried out when required.
Aside from carrying out routine maintenance, the work crews carry out capital works involving rehabilitation, widening and stabilisation of pavements during their construction period.
Current and Future Capital Works Projects
As part of the maintenance of the road network the Pyrenees Shire carries out capital works in the form of rehabiliation and reconstruction projects each year.
School crossing supervisors operate throughout the Shire and are well trained in this role. It is imperative that road users are particularly vigilant during school opening and closing times and comply with the Supervisors' directions.
Central Highlands Regional Transport Strategy 2014 and the Strategy's background report are available for download here:
Central Highlands Regional Transport Strategy 2014 Final Endorsed(PDF, 1MB)
CHRTS Background Report v4 FINAL(PDF, 4MB)