KYTC manages more than 27,500 miles of roadway, including over 9,000 bridges. Additional assets include 200,000 acres of right of way plus traffic signals, roadway lighting fixtures, traffic signs, guardrails, rest areas, weigh stations, cross drains, and other features.

Annually, Kentucky’s transportation network carries over 800 million tons of freight valued at nearly $580 billion, while drivers travel over 48 billion miles on the state’s roads. A robust maintenance program safeguards taxpayer-funded infrastructure by preserving the transportation network in a condition that facilitates safe and efficient travel for all users. The maintenance program also supports current and prospective businesses by providing access to a reliable transportation system which promotes economic growth.

Maintenance issues confronted by KYTC’s 12 highway districts vary widely due to differences in traffic volumes, geography, and freight movement. When new roads are constructed and other changes are made to the existing road network, a district may need to update its maintenance functions. Sometimes, achieving optimal maintenance results proves challenging — for example, if general maintenance functions are undertaken in a disorganized manner or when there is a lack of awareness about a county crew’s core functions.

KYTC’s maintenance function encompasses maintenance and operations activities:

• Maintenance — Routine care of existing infrastructure done to preserve its intended function. This includes activities such as pothole patching, repainting of roadway stripes, cleaning debris from ditches, mowing, tree trimming, and litter pickup.
• Operations — All tasks that keep traffic moving. Examples include plowing and salting roadways; keeping signs, signals, and roadway lighting in a state of good repair; addressing catastrophic events (e.g., flooding, landslides, rockfalls); and responding to crashes which block or users.

Maintenance and operations are the responsibility of the Department of Highways’ Project Preservation units, which include the Division of Maintenance, the Division of Traffic Operations, and the district staff dedicated to preservation. Responsibilities are divided among nine branches within the two divisions (Table 1).

In 2019 and 2020, the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) convened focus groups with Division of Maintenance staff across the 12 highway districts to document maintenance priorities. Staff listed actions they perform or assign as part of their job and specified how frequently they carry out these actions. Table 2 lists each activity and expected frequencies. Each cell records the number of districts reporting a specific frequency (e.g., staff in all 12 districts said administrative duties are performed daily).

For many activities, frequencies were consistent across districts. However, significant discrepancies arise due to variability in conditions, resources, and infrastructure within districts. Some districts reported that they never carry out certain activities. For these activities, the total number of reporting districts is less than 12.

Because maintenance crews frequently contend with unforeseen issues, they often find it challenging to complete projects that require long-term planning and coordination. Responding to public complaints is part of daily maintenance routines, making it very difficult to plan and schedule other activities.

Further complicating this issue is the fact that multiple unforeseen issues may arise simultaneously or before a previous issue has been resolved. This leads to a situation maintenance staff refer to as putting out fires, where there is little time available for dealing with the backlog of normal maintenance needs.

Deciding which urgent issue to address first is challenging. These situations require a quick analysis of several factors. Decision making begins with analysis of the situation to determine its level of urgency and immediate impacts to the travelling public. When evaluating a situation, assess impacts based on level of importance: (1) safety, (2) mobility, (3) convenience, and (4) aesthetics. Table 3 defines different levels of urgency and provides examples for each.

This guidance is not meant as a rigid formula that must be followed whenever an urgent situation arises. Nor does it address every variable that should be considered. Maintenance staff should view this guidance as a starting point to begin their evaluation as it highlights factors that may warrant assessment.

In 2023, a survey was conducted with District Project Delivery & Preservation staff to assess the urgency levels associated with the various routine maintenance functions carried out by county maintenance crews. Table 4 summarizes the results of this survey. The activities are ranked from most urgent to least urgent, with a range shown which represents the levels associated with a majority of the survey responses.  Responses outside this range are not shown in the chart but are included in the calculation of the average urgency level.

Remember, each situation is unique. Many activities identified in the FOG Manual Supplement workshops are difficult to categorize if staff do not thoroughly understand specific details of a situation. Table 4 incorporates the effects of uncertainty for some activities by providing a range of urgency levels. Even if a single urgency level is denoted for an activity, this will sometimes need to be adjusted based on individual situations.

Other details may need to be considered to establish the urgency of a given situation. These include roadway characteristics (e.g., speed, traffic volume, geometry), mobility impacts (e.g., completely impassable, single lane closure) and the potential severity of crashes that may occur if a problem is not resolved quickly.

Maintenance supervisors must consider the ability of personnel when deciding how to respond to a situation. If there are too few staff, or if personnel lack the proper training or equipment, it may be necessary to limit the response to addressing immediate traffic control needs until sufficient resources are available. In these cases, maintenance supervisors should quickly communicate the need for additional resources to their immediate supervisor.

A best practice is to maintain consistent coordination between the Section Engineer and Maintenance Superintendent(s). Dedicating time to discuss staffing levels, upcoming projects, and asset needs lets staff prioritize tasks efficiently. This is particularly helpful for organizing planned events in a way that takes full advantage of the time, staff, equipment, and budget required to complete tasks.

For example, if the Section Engineer knows of an upcoming rural resurfacing project and has knowledge of the contractor’s schedule, they can communicate that information to the county’s Maintenance Superintendent. For a rural resurfacing project, the route may need cross drains replaced and ditching installed to improve drainage. Coordinating maintenance efforts prior to the resurfacing project lets staff address asset needs and establish a consistently smooth driving surface, reducing the likelihood of open cutting a recently resurfaced route to address drainage needs.