United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Meeting the community's increasingly complex infrastructure requirements provides challenges beyond any one level of government. To meet these challenges, Main Roads and local government have developed an innovative approach to road management through a partnership called the Roads Alliance to achieve better value from all available resources through improved joint planning, increased capability, better resource sharing, joint purchasing, and more efficient project delivery. It is a shared initiative between Main Roads and local government to achieve smarter collaborative management and delivery of Queensland's road network.

The Roads Alliance challenges the traditional thinking on how local and state governments should work together. It empowers local government to increase their ability to set and deliver regional road outcomes. Under the Roads Alliance, Main Roads and local government have formed 15 Regional Road Groups (RRGs) across the state to manage a combined 31,400km of Local Roads of Regional Significance.

Each RRG has agreed its network, has selected an asset management system, has collected road data, has prepared investment strategies and has agreed a forward program of works. The RRG also works to increase the efficiency of road works through joint purchasing and resource sharing and improved road management capability.

The community has diverse expectations of the road network and each year demand on the network grows. The challenge for the state and local governments is how to best manage the road network to meet the growing demand and community expectations with the resources available to them. In meeting this challenge state and local government, in Queensland, are working together to jointly manage a network of roads of similar function regardless of ownership through the Roads Alliance

Since it's inception in 2002, the Roads Alliance has achieved its primary aim of establishing a collaborative approach to road network management, planning and delivery. For the first time, both state and local government have jointly developed regional works programs removing the former adversarial approach between the two tiers of government.

Notable achievements and benefits of the Roads Alliance include:
• Achieving greater efficiencies for state and local government and industry through combined road network planning and project scheduling including reduction of duplication.
• Investing in improved road management and delivery capability through more training, and better technology and systems
• The outcome is better roads sooner for all regions of Queensland.
• The Roads Alliance is about better skilled people, using better technology and information, making better decisions to deliver road network outcomes.
• Improving road safety
• Maximizing benefits from partnerships with industry.

The Roads Alliance has gained national and international recognition as leading the way for two levels of government to cooperate in addressing community issues. It has also been acknowledged as best practice model with the potential for replication across many areas of public policy.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Main Roads, together with local government, is leading the way in establishing an innovative approach to road management through the development and implementation of the Roads Alliance. Queensland has 180, 000 kilometres of public roads. The state government is responsible for 34,000 kilometres of this network with local government responsible for the rest. Managing this network is a big job. Between them, state and local governments spend around $3 billion per year on planning, constructing, maintaining and operating the road network. The community has diverse expectations of the road network and each year demand on the network grows. The challenge for the state and local governments is how to best manage the road network to meet the growing demand and community expectations with the resources available to them. In meeting this challenge, state and local government agreed to work together to jointly manage a network of roads of similar function regardless of ownership. To do this the Minister for Transport and Minister for Main Roads and the President of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) signed a memorandum of agreement to establish the Roads Alliance. The Roads Alliance is a new way of operating where Main Roads and local government form Regional Road Groups (RRG) to manage a network of roads across a region. Each RRG, supported by an advisory technical committee, will develop investment strategies and make investment decisions for roads within the agreed network across the region. The RRG will also work to increase the efficiency of road works by joint purchasing and resource sharing and improved road management capability within local government. The Roads Alliance was developed in partnership with Main Roads and the LGAQ. The Roads Alliance builds on the already excellent relationship between Main Roads and local government. The development of the Roads Alliance highlights the extensive collaboration and consultation undertaken by Main Roads and LGAQ to present the case to local government. A clear indication of its successful development is the voluntary participation of 124 out of a possible 125 councils in the Roads Alliance. A joint Main Roads and LGAQ project team led the development of the Roads Alliance. The team developed new policies and processes with an emphasis on collaboration. The team had to drive significant change by challenging existing beliefs, processes and cultures in both state and local government. In this way, the team has shown excellent leadership to overcome traditional views about the way Main Roads and local government manage the road system. The successful implementation of the Roads Alliance is clear evidence of the leadership demonstrated by the project team. The Roads Alliance is a new type of public management process based on collaboration. It represents a genuine shift in emphasis from a functional approach, based on ownership, to an outcomes approach. The outcome is better roads sooner for all regions of Queensland. The Roads Alliance is about better skilled people, using better technology and information, making better decisions to create better communities.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Main Roads and the LGAQ spent two years developing the Roads Alliance process. Following discussions in May 2001, Main Roads and LGAQ established a Memorandum of Understanding to investigate the potential for a statewide alliance. On 28 August 2002, the LGAQ and Main Roads signed a Memorandum of Agreement. Since the signing of this agreement, 124 out of 125 councils have agreed to participate in the Roads Alliance. Implementation of the Roads Alliance will be ongoing with the first road projects prioritised by the Regional Road Groups appearing in the Main Roads, 2005-06 to 2009-10 Roads Implementation Program (RIP). The Roads Alliance is a long term partnership that will over time become routine. The concept has the potential to expand to cover other forms of transport infrastructure and, ultimately, all types of infrastructure.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
In Queensland, state and local government manage the state’s 180,000 km public road network. Main Roads is the state agency responsible for managing the state road network – 34,000 km of roads that carry approximately 80 per cent of the Queensland traffic. Of the state network about 14,000 km are lower order roads, that in other states would be local government roads. Local government is responsible for managing the remaining roads throughout the state. Both levels of government have difficulty in meeting the increasing demands placed on the road system. As a result of these increasing demands, Main Roads and the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) have investigated and developed a road management and investment alliance – the Roads Alliance. The Roads Alliance is a commitment by Main Roads and local government to achieve better value from all available road dollars through improved planning, increased capability, better resource sharing and joint purchasing, and more efficient project delivery. The central idea of the Roads Alliance is for Main Roads and local government to cooperatively manage a roads network of similar function - regardless of ownership. These roads, lower order state roads and higher order local government roads, emphasizes agreement on what should be done, within the limited resources are called Local Roads of Regional Significance (LRRS). To do this, Main Roads and local governments established the regional groups of councils of whose members consist of predominantly mayors and of which Main Roads is a member. The Regional Road Groups (RRGs) are tasked with managing the LRRS network. The RRGs make all investment and maintenance decisions on these roads. A technical committee supports the regional road group. Under this system, Main Roads is transferring considerable decision-making power to local government. Local leaders will make decisions on where to target available roads funding, how to improve purchasing and resource sharing, manage local employment needs, and develop road management and delivery capability. As a result, the Roads Alliance will deliver better roads sooner for local communities.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
More jobs for Queensland, skills and innovation, the Smart State: The innovative Roads Alliance model supports smarter delivery and management of Queensland’s road network. The Roads Alliance model enables state and local government to work together to achieve optimal outcomes. The Roads Alliance has developed many innovative policies, processes and practices to deliver a better outcome for Queensland. These include: • New processes to improve road management and engineering practices through increased capability and training. Main Roads has invested approx $4.5million since 2002 to improve overall local government capability in such areas as evaluating road condition, undertaking road asset and road safety risk management and assessing bridge condition. This more capable workforce will improve the efficiency of road work delivery and contributes to the development, skill base and sustainability of rural and regional communities. • More efficient ways to construct and maintain roads through increased joint purchasing and resource sharing. The alliance project team has worked closely with local governments and Main Roads to develop a number of initiatives which will deliver benefits from joint purchasing and resource sharing. A key aspect of this initiative is to work with suppliers to ensure the supply of road building equipment and materials are cheaper. One trial project on bulking up of reseal programs indicated that there are savings of up to 27 per cent available. By achieving greater efficiencies from joint purchasing and resource sharing, limited road dollars will go further. • Improved road management and planning through better asset management data and development of an investment strategy and project prioritisation process. A direct outcome of the Roads Alliance is that for the first time state and local government will have comparable data for Queensland’s total road network. This valuable information will enable both levels of government to work together to address the priority road network needs across Queensland. This is a worlds-best-practice road information framework that provides consistent data about road demand, use and condition across the entire network. Also, the project team has developed processes for regional road groups to follow when developing investment strategies, and a project prioritisation process when developing a road works program. These processes will enable regional road groups to target priority areas of high need. • Better management of road worker employment. Through the Roads Alliance, Main Roads and local governments jointly manage road works to ensure sustainability of employment in rural and remote areas. Main Roads will continue to maintain its commitment to local employment in those communities that have traditionally relied on the department’s support.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The Roads Alliance creates a more collaborative, coordinated approach to road management across Queensland. As a result, the successful establishment of the Alliance will continue to build on the strong relationship between local and state government. The decentralised ownership of the Roads Alliance is a major success factor for the initiative. Main Roads has devolved decision making on road management to enable regional Queenslanders to make decisions on their local roads. Roads Alliance participants are empowered with critical roles and responsibilities. For example: • councils themselves proposed the composition of the 15 regional road groups as best able to meet their regional needs • RRGs are the alliance’s fundamental decision-making bodies. RRGs receive support and advice from technical committees, which comprise of Main Roads and local government engineers and executives. Both RRGs and technical committees are resourced on a local basis • individual RRGs themselves have identified the Local Roads of Regional Significance (LRRS) that the alliance manages. The Roads Alliance has seen Main Roads transfer decision making power to local government, through equitable partnering and decision making, to begin the move to a truly collaborative approach to Queensland road system management. This collaboration has been evident and essential since the early stages of the Roads Alliance formation when Main Roads and local government piloted the Roads Alliance. A number of established boards and committees ensure the effective leadership and successful implementation of the alliance. These are: • the Alliance Board comprises key executive members from the LGAQ and Main Roads; • a joint reference group, comprising project staff from LGAQ and Main Roads and Main Roads and LGAQ executives, meet regularly to discuss implementation; and • working groups were established for key areas in the alliance including Asset Management, Program Development, Joint Purchasing and Resource Sharing.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Safer and more supportive communities: As part of the Roads Alliance, Main Roads and the LGAQ have developed and are committed to ongoing implementation of a Road Safety Risk Management tool for local government. Existing road safety management tools require too much data and are too expensive for the majority of local governments to operate. The Roads Alliance risk management tool operates with the standard asset management data set and is simple and cheap to operate. The tool enables local governments to prioritise road safety risk and necessary treatment works. The safety risk management tool also enables local governments to better manage non-feasance issues. Ultimately, implementation of the road safety risk management tool will ensure Queenslanders enjoy a safer road network. Community engagement and a better quality of life: The principles of community engagement have played an integral role in the development of the Roads Alliance. From conception, Main Roads and LGAQ have consulted and collaborated extensively with key stakeholders to ensure the viability of the Alliance and the achievement of the best outcomes for all parties. Main Roads has assessed the requirements of federal, state and local governments and the community in developing the Roads Alliance model. It has positioned itself by responding to community expectations that governments work together and stop shifting the blame, whilst creating an innovative consultative process to improve capabilities across the road network. Main Roads also undertook a statewide consultation tour and conducted an extensive pilot program of the Roads Alliance model using four key regions across Queensland. The results of these pilots greatly shaped the Roads Alliance model that was implemented. Maximising community engagement was vital to the success of the project, and the development and implementation of an effective communication strategy proved essential. The strategy was critical in delivering an accurate and consistent message to local governments across Queensland. It incorporated the development of a communication plan and manual, regular community workshops, attendance at local government associated meetings and workshops within the department's districts and regions. Building Queensland’s regions: The Roads Alliance aims to achieve better outcomes for regional Queenslanders through creating better access for regional industry and communities across Queensland to essential government and commercial services, including access to hospitals and schools. The Roads Alliance also supports the need to build capacity in regional areas. Importantly, the Roads Alliance provides local leaders with the opportunity to making the decisions that impact on their region. Fundamental to the Roads Alliance model is Main Roads’ devolution of power to allow regions to determine priorities for the regional road network – including the state owned network. This means that decisions about local roads are made at a local level. Regional Queensland is empowered to deal with regional road issues at the regional level.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The Roads Alliance is an excellent example of an initiative that has led the way in establishing a new way for state and local governments to work together. The Roads Alliance represents a new and better style of public sector management based on collaboration and partnership between different levels of government. This level of cooperation between two levels of government is unusual in Australia. The intent and the approach of the Roads Alliance process are replicable across many areas of public policy. The potential benefits available through a cooperative approach make it desirable that other jurisdictions replicate the Roads Alliance model. To ensure the success of this model, and that regions are adequately equipped to make these decisions, significant training has been provided. This training, which focuses on broadening capability across the state, ensures better skilled and trained road managers and workers delivering better road outcomes. A more capable workforce contributes to the development, skill base and sustainability of rural and regional communities. The primary aim of the Roads Alliance is to provide better roads sooner across Queensland through partnership between local government and Main Roads. The following areas are key objectives of the Roads Alliance: • maximise economic development and benefit through better funding allocations; • achieve maximum efficiencies for Main Roads and local government through a combined approach to road network planning and coordination of road projects;. • reduce the duplication of resources and asset (eg plant, equipment, buildings) used to improve efficiency and flexibility across Main Roads and local government; and. • invest in improved road management and delivery capability through increased training and technology and systems transfer. The Roads Alliance initiatives have been a catalyst for change in Main Road processes relating to the management of the road network, particular at a regional level. These practices have been adopted throughout Main Roads District Offices and have become embedded in the day to day operational activities of Main Roads state-wide. The Roads Alliance was recognised by the Premier of Queensland as recipient of the 2005 Excellence Awards for Public Service in the category of Leadership. This acknowledgement is testimony to the benchmark that the Roads Alliance has set in government as a best practices bringing together all levels of government.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
A key message early in the consultation phase was that local governments and Main Roads districts would need to move beyond parochialism. It was essential to get across the message that it is possible to derive a local benefit from acting regionally. If your key access is to Brisbane, Mt Isa or Townsville you benefit from any work carried out on that road, whether the work is in your local government or district area or not. Many people claimed at the start of the process local politics would render local government incapable of acting regionally. This has not proven to be the case. Many local governments have demonstrated a clear commitment to regional decision making. When developing the Roads Alliance model there was an emphasis on not trying to do too much too soon. It is very much an incremental model. The objective of this approach is to reduce the level of risk a local government is taking at any one time. It enables local governments and Main Roads to stage implementation. An important aspect of developing the Roads Alliance was that it not be more than what local government and districts would have been doing anyway. The trick was not to change what they did, but how they did it. Local governments in regional road groups are demonstrating efficient planning and work practices by developing joint regional works programs, identifying regional priorities for investment, joint purchasing, resource sharing and using common road management processes. This presented a major challenge for Main Roads because it had to now transfer / share decision making with local government on the Local Roads of Regional Significance network with the support of jointly developed systems and processes. Meeting the community's expectations in providing increasingly complex infrastructure creates challenges beyond the ability of any one level of government to address. The Roads Alliance is an innovative process to assist governments to meet these challenges. It required change. It required governments to let go of the past and adopt new ways of doing things. It goes beyond the traditional models where levels of government dispute responsibility based on archaic institutional arrangements agreed over one hundred years ago. It is based on cooperation – not conflict. The Roads Alliance has developed better relationships, better capability and better performance. Developing the Roads Alliance was an intensely consultative process. The LGAQ describe it as the most consulted activity undertaken by local government in Queensland. Senior managers from state and local government toured the state to talk about the alliance concept at specially arranged workshops. A fundamental rule was that the Roads Alliance did not move forward until Main Roads and the LGAQ were confident that an overwhelming majority of local governments agreed with the concept. Transferring decision making to joint regional frameworks has resulted in less conflict and broader thinking by both tiers of government – creating a better appreciation of all members need and desired outcomes. Regional decision making has resulted in improved allocation of available dollars and efficiency gains.


Institution Name:		Queensland Department of Main Roads
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Nicki Milios
Title:		Project Officer
Telephone/ Fax:		+61 7 33067143
Institution's / Project's Website:		+61 7 33067130
E-mail:		nicki.z.milios@mainroads.qld.gov.au
Address:		PO Box 1549
Postal Code:		4001
City:		Brisbane
State/Province:		Queensland
Country:		Australia

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information