How Projects are Prioritized?


100 series highways

Decisions about major construction upgrades and twinning of the 100-series highways are based mostly on traffic volumes, safety studies, and collision statistics.

Decisions about 100-series paving projects since 2010 have been guided mostly by the department's Pavement Management System. The system collects up-to-date pavement conditions and traffic information on all 100-series highways and uses a computer program to generate the best possible maintenance and rehabilitation plan based on nationally accepted guidelines.

This information with the technical knowledge of highway program staff helps inform annual and multi-year paving plans, including various rehabilitation and preservation projects.

Trunks, routes and local paved roads handling more than 500 vehicles daily

There are many factors that we take into consideration when assessing and making decisions about repaving secondary and local paved roads:
  • traffic volumes
  • surface roughness
  • pavement conditions (cracking, rutting, and broken pavement)

Priorities for pavement preservation projects, such as crack and chip sealing, are developed by highway program staff, who assess the current age and condition of the pavement.

Local low-volume paved roads and gravel roads

The following factors help determine priorities for surface stabilization projects:
  • traffic volumes
  • roadside development, including the number of homes, businesses, and community sites (eg., churches, community halls, recreation centres, parks, etc.) located on the road
  • requests for road repairs from residents, businesses, not for profit groups, and community
  • groups, chambers of commerce and elected officials

Bridges

Provincial bridges are inspected and assessed regularly by Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal engineers and inspectors.

Priorities for annual and multi-year bridge rehabilitation and replacement programs are developed by staff, who consider the condition, age, and use of the structure; the volume of traffic and weights; and the class of roadway where the structure is located.

Public safety is always the primary consideration.

Road Construction Facts