3. Effectiveness of National Roads Maintenance Management by GDDKiA
3.1. The National Road Network
At the beginning of 2011 the overall length of public roads in Poland was 406,100 kilometres, out of which paved roads constituted approx.
67%. The length of national roads was 18,600 kilometres, including over 1,500 kilometres of high-speed roads (857 km of motorways and 675 km of expressways). The average density of national roads was 5.9 km per 100 km2 and 48.7 km per 100 thousand inhabitants. There are over 4.3 thousand bridge structures on the national road network.
National roads, which constitute about 4.6% of the length of the public road network, carry over 60% of the total traffic. As far as the impact on the technical condition of pavement is concerned, the most significant factors are: annual average daily traffic (AADT) measured by the number of vehicles passing daily through the cross section of a road, daily traffic volume measured by vehicle-kilometres and the traffic structure, measured by the relation of light vs. heavy traffic (trucks with or without trailers).
According to the results of the latest general traffic census (GPR 2010), the average daily traffic of motor vehicles in 2010 on the national road network was 9,888 vehicles daily, which marks an approx. 22% increase in comparison to the census of 20054. The traffic burden is not equal on the entire network, but it increases in line with the growing
significance of roads. On the international roads the average daily traffic in 2010 was 16,667, whereas on the remaining national roads it was 7,097 (see Appendix D, table 2). In comparison to the census of 2005, in all voivodships an increase in traffic was recorded, with the highest increase amounting to over 30% in Śląskie, Pomorskie and Opolskie. The lowest increase in traffic (about 15%) was recorded in Zachodnio-Pomorskie, Lubuskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie, i.e.
voivodships where AADT in 2010 was much lower than on the entire national road network (Synthesis of GPR Results 2010, Transprojekt-Warszawa 2011).
4 General traffic census in Poland is carried out each five years.
National Roads in Poland
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)
Effectiveness of National Roads Maintenance Management by GDDKiA
Due to the geographic location, historical determinants, as well as the industrial and commercial potential, and the level of socio-economic development of individual voivodships there is an essential regional discrepancy between the length and density of the national road network and the road traffic load (cf. Figures 3 and 4):
• The voivodships in southern and central Poland are best equipped with road network, in particular: Śląskie, Opolskie, Łódzkie, Dolnośląskie, Mazowieckie, Małopolskie and Świętokrzyskie, where the density of roads measured in kilometres per 100 km2 of the voivodship area, is larger than the national average. Meanwhile, only in three out of these voivodships the GDP per capita was higher than the country average;
• The Mazowieckie Voivodship, which is the richest in terms of GDP and has the longest network of national roads, is characterised by geographic density of the network at the level of national average with density of roads per 100 thousand inhabitants slightly lower than the national average; the traffic volumes are the highest in Poland (measured in vehicle-kilometres), both by trucks and passenger cars;
Figure 3. GDP per capita and the density of national road network in voivodships (2010)
Legend:
6.71 – density of roads km/100 km2 30.79 – density of roads km/100 thousand persons
30,220 – GDP per capita (2009), PLN 5.02 / 67.82
Zachodniopomorskie 30,939
5.03 / 41.14 Pomorskie
34,267 5.49 / 92.99
Warmińsko-Mazurskie
38,395 8.28 / 75.73 Opolskie
28,761 9.19 / 24.44 Śląskie
37,761 6.71 / 30.79 Małopolskie
Source: based on data by the Central Statistical Office (GUS).
Effectiveness of National Roads Maintenance Management by GDDKiA
Figure 4. GDP per capita, density of national road network and AADT in voivodships
Source: based on data by the Central Statistical Office and GPR 2010.
• the Śląskie Voivodship, which is the second in Poland in terms of the GDP value and population, precedes several voivodships as to the length of national roads (Wielkopolskie, Łódzkie, Dolnośląskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie), however it has the densest road network per 100 km2 of the area (9.2 km) and, at the same time, the lowest density (24.4 km) per 100 thousand inhabitants.
In this voivodship, the AADT is the highest and amounts to 18,262 vehicles daily (32% more than in 2005), and in the international traffic almost 35,700 vehicles daily. The heavy traffic load is high, and comparable to that in Mazowieckie and Wielkopolskie voivodships;
• the average daily traffic of over 11,000 vehicles was recorded in 2010 in Małopolskie, Łódzkie, Dolnośląskie, Mazowieckie and Wielkopolskie. The lowest traffic on the national road network, below 7,000 vehicles daily, characterises Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Podlaskie, which have low national roads density (below 90% of the national average) and GDP per capita at the level of approx. 74%
of the national average). In two poorest voivodships – Podkarpackie and Lubelskie – with the shortest road length, density per km2 and a small proportion of heavy vehicle traffic, the average daily traffic in 2010 constituted respectively 97% and 75% of the national average;
density of roads, km/100 km2 (Poland=100)
GDP per capita (Poland=100)
100
Effectiveness of National Roads Maintenance Management by GDDKiA
Figure 4. GDP per capita, density of national road network and AADT in voivodships
Source: based on data by the Central Statistical Office and GPR 2010.
• the Śląskie Voivodship, which is the second in Poland in terms of the GDP value and population, precedes several voivodships as to the length of national roads (Wielkopolskie, Łódzkie, Dolnośląskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie), however it has the densest road network per 100 km2 of the area (9.2 km) and, at the same time, the lowest density (24.4 km) per 100 thousand inhabitants.
In this voivodship, the AADT is the highest and amounts to 18,262 vehicles daily (32% more than in 2005), and in the international traffic almost 35,700 vehicles daily. The heavy traffic load is high, and comparable to that in Mazowieckie and Wielkopolskie voivodships;
• the average daily traffic of over 11,000 vehicles was recorded in 2010 in Małopolskie, Łódzkie, Dolnośląskie, Mazowieckie and Wielkopolskie. The lowest traffic on the national road network, below 7,000 vehicles daily, characterises Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Podlaskie, which have low national roads density (below 90% of the national average) and GDP per capita at the level of approx. 74%
of the national average). In two poorest voivodships – Podkarpackie and Lubelskie – with the shortest road length, density per km2 and a small proportion of heavy vehicle traffic, the average daily traffic in 2010 constituted respectively 97% and 75% of the national average;
density of roads, km/100 km2 (Poland=100)
GDP per capita (Poland=100)
100
• the highest density of roads per 100 thousand inhabitants characterises Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Podlaskie, Lubuskie and Opolskie, where the road networks are not overloaded with traffic.
The steady increases in traffic of trucks with trailers in recent years is of significance for the present analysis, as it influences decisively traffic conditions on the roads as well as the process of pavement wear.
In 2005-2010, the traffic of trucks with trailers increased by approx.
43%. In previous five-year periods an increase in the traffic of those vehicles was however higher and amounted to 68% in the years 1995-2000 and 50% in the years 1995-2000-2005. This amounts to the total of over 3.5-times increase in the traffic of trucks with trailers
in the recent 15 years, whereas traffic increases in absolute numbers in successive five-year periods were higher each year (GPR Results 2010, p. 12). In the context of heavy vehicle traffic, which grows continuously, a vital problem in Poland is insufficient load capacity of many national roads not suitable for vehicles with axle load of 115 kN, which is the basic standard for the international road network in Europe. Although from EU accession to the end of 2010 the share of roads fulfilling this standard increased from 5.1%
of the total length of the national road network to over 31% (approx.
5.9 thousand kilometres), insufficient load capacity on the remaining 2/3 of the national road network generates additional costs of road maintenance.
In accordance with the provisions of the new Scheme for Construction of National Roads, the process of adapting the national road network to axle loads of 115 KN on the main transit routes should have been completed by 2015. However, it must be considered that due to budgetary constraints only the most urgent projects will be completed with priorities put on roads with the highest long-term forecasts of heavy vehicle traffic.
Traffic Forecasts
Effectiveness of National Roads Maintenance Management by GDDKiA