Prioritization of Road Upgrading Projects for District Road Core Network: A Case study of Lamjung District

Abstract

One of the essential needs of a citizen in the twenty-first century is the ease of access to transportation whose construction normally requires a huge capital investment. Government of Nepal has been carrying out road network expansion, up-gradation, and maintenance through Department of Roads (DoR) and Department of Local Infrastructure and Agricultural Roads (DoLIDAR). DoLIDAR prepares a list and executes the development of road network interconnecting all local bodies in a district termed as District Road Core Network (DRCN). Ranking criteria for road construction and up-gradation have been focused on the beneficiary population rather than access which has been ineffective for the balanced development. This study is focused on the development of a composite index with technical criteria for the prioritization of district roads to be upgraded with an emphasis on the rural road network. This index is based on novel set of factors namely link performance, link accessibility, link connectivity and link associated cost. A case study was carried out in the Lamjung district of Gandaki Province, Nepal. Primary data were collected from Field Survey and Questionnaire Survey while Secondary data were collected from respective Government authorities. Analysis of the collected data was done by assigning the obtained weight of prioritization factors through probabilistic approach. Each of the factors was provided a certain weight using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The actual condition rating of these factors is multiplied with weighting factors and hence a composite index was obtained to rank each road.