 The definition of what constitutes rural roads is unclear. In this web page we deal with all other roads than main roads. These are normally managed by local governments and communities and include urban secondary roads managed by municipalities. Quite commonly these roads present 80% of the total road network lengths, carry only 20% of the total motorized traffic, but provide access to the majority of population in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Traffic often consists of a majority of non-motorized or intermediate means of transport and pedestrians. Management and financing arrangements for these roads are often unclear and multiplicities of agencies with low capacity are involved. Furthermore, they are often not classified and gazetted, and their extent and condition is unknown. Also, at the lower end of the networks, a distinction between roads, tracks and paths is necessary. Often the term rural transport infrastructure is used to ensure that tracks, paths and footbridges are included in the considerations. To understand issues with rural road management it is necessary to understand the decentralization context in the various countries. Also, to assist decision making on improved management arrangements for rural roads it is necessary to get to now the extent and condition of the rural road network. SSATP is in the process of developing a Rapid Rural Roads Appraisal (RRRA) methodology, with the help of which a rapid and low cost survey (at approximately $20/km) can be made to get to know the network and establish a geo-referenced baseline database. Furthermore, it will be important that transport policies take into account rural transport issues in general, and that the legal context for the management and financing of rural roads is clearly defined in the country's road legislation (e.g. the Roads Act). The following key lessons have emerged regarding the management and financing of rural roads: - Responsibilities for the various rural roads, tracks and paths need to be clearly allocated.
- It is important to distinguish between local government and community responsibility - management and financing arrangements for either type of infrastructure is fundamentally different
- For the design of appropriate networks use the “basic access” approach which means the provision of reliable access to as many of the rural population as possible
- To increase the reliability of low volume networks define core networks that are affordable and serve the majority of the population and apply spot improvements to gradually enhance reliability of the network
The key texts on this subject are: |
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