A new framework for road management

The paper puts forward a new framework for managing roads. The concept of management functions is introduced to describe the basic areas where management decisions have to be made. These functions are termed strategic planning, programming, preparation and operations. They provide a framework within which decision-making can be considered. The framework has a number of dimensions, including those of time, spatial coverage, staff, works definition, policy, information, costing, contracting and computer systems. The framework proposed for road management provides a simple model which is more comprehensive than that currently included in the Local Authority Association's Code of Good Practice. It aims to provide practitioners with a structured approach to managing road networks.