Problems in the Use of Local Significance Roads: A Case Study of Šiauliai District Kairiai Eldership

Abstract

A road is an engineering structure that performs a very important purpose of transportation. Roads are divided into categories that stand out for their importance and significance. One such category is local roads, which are classified in the lowest category. The most common problems that arise with these roads are that on this category of roads due to low traffic, road maintenance is simply not carried out or many such roads are not registered with the State Enterprise Center of Registers, resulting in changes in road boundaries when forming adjacent plots. Discrepancies in the use of local significance roads are observed as well during road cadastral measurements and the preparation of cartographic material. The aim of this article is to analyze the problems of local road use in Šiauliai district Kairiai eldership. The analyzed topic is new, little studied in the domestic and foreign literature, but it is very relevant in production, therefore there is a need to analyze and identify the problems of the use of local significance roads in more detail. During the research, the special plan of the communication system of Kairiai eldership, land management plans and orthophotographic maps were examined. It has been established that Kairiai eldership is classified as a suburban area, which is likely to affect the growth of the local road network, which currently amounts to 120 km. A detailed analysis of the lengths of local roads in Kairiai eldership revealed that the entire network makes up 37 per cent of public roads, 36 per cent of streets and 27 per cent of internal roads. The majority (more than 15 km) of local significance internal roads are made up of gravel pavements. After the cadastral measurements, analysis of territory planning documents and other planned material, it was established that 29 local significance roads were not registered in Kairiai eldership, and instead of the indicative length of 20.8 km of these roads, only 16.7 km were identified, i.e. 4.1 km discrepancy/deficiency detected. Also, during the study, the analysis of territory planning documents and other primary planning material revealed that the following problems of road use are most common: poor road maintenance, improper road use, selfish connection of the road to the existing land plot and road interference with private land plots. In order to avoid certain identified problems, it would be appropriate to set up a kind of monitoring system that would allow the condition of the roads to be monitored and contribute to the planning of their management. It is also very important to oblige landowners to use existing land plots in an orderly manner. Local road management plans are needed with increased funding as well as obliging landowners to use and maintain their land properly.