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Asset Management Update

Corridor Investment Plans The development of Corridor Investment Plans (CIP) is a new approach to responsible management of any existing or proposed highway and its associated assets.

A CIP is a tool that allows the Ministry to quantify the long-term investments required along a corridor to meet specific performance criteria. Not only will it indicate the investments required over a 25 year period, it will demonstrate the changes in the condition and operational performance over time, depending on the timing and level of investment.

This type of long-term planning allows MTO to identify problems before they happen and avoid the "worst-first" approach to managing assets. The CIPs will utilize the existing ministry infrastructure management systems to determine the condition and treatment types and predict future condition and timing of needs.

Corridor Investment Plans will detail all investments along the corridor including:

* Expansion

* Reconstruction

* Rehabilitation

* Preservation

* Maintenance

A corridor is defined based on a highway's role and function, the origin-destination or specialized function such as sole community access or provincial park access. A corridor can be made up of one highway or several. Corridors can be split to create sub-corridors. These splits are made at regional boundaries, funding changes, and to keep the size manageable.

MTO currently has 52 corridors and 315 sub-corridors. Some typical corridors are:

* Highway 401

* Highway 403

* Highways 400/69

* Highways 12, 21, 26, 93

* Provincial Park Access (Highways - 529,534, 559, 581, 630, 637, 668, 672, 587, 599, 621, 647)

Recently, MTO asked each Regional Program Planning office to develop one detailed 15-year CIP as a pilot for this funding cycle - these will eventually become 25-year plans. A consultant has also been retained to automate the CIP. This work is underway and should be completed by the end of the year. Eventually the CIP will be linked to the new Integrated Highway Information System, which will begin development next year.

The use of the Corridor Investment Plan allows the ministry to demonstrate the impacts of a changing budget. The unconstrained CIP details all investments required on a corridor over time. We can then demonstrate the impact on the condition and operation of a corridor when investments are delayed because of a reduced budget. This allows the Ministry to demonstrate the impacts of a reduced budget on the highway system.

By providing a clear picture of current and future needs, MTO can pursue funding and demonstrate how government can most effectively use public money, a key goal of Asset Management and MTO.