In the world of logistics and transportation, efficient and safe heavy vehicle access is crucial for the smooth flow of supplies and the success of industries.
The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP) is a significant initiative aimed at enhancing heavy vehicle access, through asset assessments on key local government roads and routes.
SLGAAP has a clear strategic focus – to comprehensively assess assets on key local roads and improve the understanding of asset capability across the heavy vehicle network.
This focus is rooted in the idea that targeting asset assessments on key heavy vehicle routes will yield numerous benefits for both local government and the industry.
Benefits of SLGAAP
Whole-of-journey network improvements: SLGAAP takes a holistic approach by concentrating on enhancing the entire journey network rather than isolated assets. This approach ensures better heavy vehicle access decision-making along routes, ultimately benefiting road managers, local governments, and industry stakeholders.
Streamlined access process: By providing valuable information on asset capability, SLGAAP aims to assist road freight operators in the future to make informed route selections during the application stage. This will streamline the access process and result in higher-quality applications, reducing delays and administrative hurdles.
Identifying priority routes: SLGAAP identifies and establishes priority heavy vehicle routes on local government roads nationally. These routes serve as critical links between local communities and key freight routes, such as those supporting Australia’s extensive freight task or providing essential access to remote areas.
Optimising network access: Understanding asset capability enables road managers to optimise network access confidently. This means considering pre-approved and gazetted routes where appropriate, ensuring that heavy vehicles can travel efficiently and safely.
What defines a priority route?
Priority heavy vehicle routes, as identified by SLGAAP, possess several key characteristics:
• Regional access: These routes link towns or cities across council boundaries, creating vital connections within regions.
• Traffic handling: Priority routes often handle moderate traffic volumes or significant percentages of heavy vehicles, making them essential for efficient transportation.
• Critical access points: They serve as the primary access points for communities that lack alternative routes. In times of planned or unplanned incidents, they can also function as relief routes.
• Supporting key land uses: Priority routes connect various land uses critical for industries, including ports, mines, industrial estates, agricultural areas, and more.
Priorities for the next 12 months
Over the next year, SLGAAP has several key priorities beyond continued asset assessments:
• Integration: The project aims to integrate the national priority heavy vehicle routes dataset into the Spatial Platform in the NHVR Portal. This integration will facilitate better data access and utilisation.
• Validation: SLGAAP will work closely with local government road managers to validate the priority heavy vehicle routes. This ensures that the identified routes align with local needs and conditions.
Get involved
Are you interested in contributing to SLGAAP’s efforts by sharing your insights on priority routes? If so, submit your ideas here to help shape the future of heavy vehicle access in Australia.
- Melanie Cooper is the NHVR’s SLGAAP project manager.