Ottawa 2020

Transportation Master Plan

Chapter 13 – Asset Management and Maintenance

The estimated replacement value of the City of Ottawa’s transportation infrastructure — including roads, bridges, walkways and rapid transit facilities — is $7.5 billion. These assets are continuously deteriorating, and will eventually require rehabilitation or replacement. With limited budgets and increasing demands on the transportation network, the City is challenged to manage its assets in a way that minimizes total life-cycle costs and sustains expected levels of service.

Asset management services include condition management and the programming of reinvestment and renewal activities, as well as the control of activities such as road cuts (required to access underground services) to preserve the physical integrity of infrastructure. Effective asset management minimizes the cost of maintaining, repairing and replacing each asset over its entire life, while enabling infrastructure to support increased levels of use as the community grows. Note that asset management issues related to the City’s transit fleet and transit garages are addressed in Chapter 7 of this plan.

Infrastructure maintenance services are delivered to paved or surface-treated roads, gravel roads, sidewalks and pathways, bridges and the Transitway. They include asphalt and concrete repairs, winter snow and ice control, and sweeping and litter control. Maintenance services play an essential role in infrastructure management, helping to reduce life-cycle costs while they improve safety, sustain desired levels of service and protect the natural environment.

Maintenance services must integrate the consideration of public expectations, budgetary constraints and best practices in risk management. Their effective and efficient delivery depends on the manner in which the transportation system is designed and built, and can be aided or hindered by infrastructure design, traffic management measures and landscaping features. The City’s maintenance service level standards, which define the extent and timing of related activities, are currently being harmonized and are categorized into the following groups:

  • "Public safety" services and standards — Those that impact the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. Road maintenance standards for snow clearance, potholes and road cracks, regulatory signs and streetlights are required to comply with the Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways as defined by the Municipal Act
  • "Infrastructure preservation" services and standards — Those that reflect the City’s need to protect capital assets, and that are financially justified by life-cycle cost impacts
  • "Quality of life" services and standards — Those that enhance the quality of life for Ottawa residents and visitors, and offer some flexibility with regard to performance standards

The City will:

  1. Give priority to the management of existing infrastructure before adding new infrastructure
  2. Maintain an Asset Management Strategy that protects infrastructure and minimizes the total life-cycle cost of implementation, operation and renewal while providing continuous, safe and reliable services
  3. Benchmark and monitor the effectiveness of infrastructure management programs
  4. Plan and implement infrastructure, including modifications, in a manner that recognizes implications for maintenance service level standards, practices and costs
  5. Plan and implement infrastructure to provide adequate snow storage space and adequate green space to permit the recharging of ground water from surface water
  6. Introduce right-of-way enhancements, such as street furniture and planters, in a manner that preserves a clear, unencumbered right-of-way for maintenance services, wherever possible
  7. Protect and enhance urban forests within transportation corridors

Next: Chapter 14 - Implementation and Monitoring