Local Road Network Development Plan (LRNDP)

Link to Documents

(Extracted from DILG MC No. 2020-119)

The total local road network in the country is approximately 190,000 kilometers under the jurisdiction of 81 provinces, 146 cities, 1,488 municipalities, and 42,045 barangays based on the inventory done by the Local Government Units (LGUs) and consolidated by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) through the Office of Project Development Services (OPDS), which makes it vital to the Philippine economy. Ideally, these road networks link national roads to areas of economic development, provide access to basic and social services, and serve as an important conduit during conflict, crises and calamities. However, the study from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) says that the state of the Philippine local roads is generally of poor quality and condition. Furthermore, our local roads have inadequate connectivity to the main arterial or national secondary road network which causes poor access to the basic and social services, thus, hampers the Philippine economic growth and development.

At present, several local road programs are being supported by the National Government Agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other agencies, to address the issue of national – local roads connectivity. Generally, these programs try to utilize a bottom-up approach in road project identification originating at the local level, but there is no significant collaboration and integration among the programs in the implementation of road network projects.

In FY 2015, the DILG, with assistance from the Provincial Road Management Facility (PRMF), provided technical assistance to Provincial Local Government Units (PLGUs) to help the provinces formulate their Provincial Road Network Development Plan (PRNDP) as reference in identifying their respective priority road projects funded under the 2016 Konkreto at Ayos na Langsangan at Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran (KALSADA) and the 2017 Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces Programs. Subsequently, in FY 2017, the DILG with assistance from the Asia Foundation through the CMGP Program, has led the PLGUs in updating their respective PRNDPs into Local Road Network Development Plan (LRNDP) to expound the identification of provincial core roads applying the Value Chain Analysis and the digitized maps of the provincial, city, municipal and barangay roads as provided by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). The importance of connectivity of local road networks from the national down to the barangay level was highlighted to ensure facilitation of the economic development in the provinces.

The creation of integrated LRNDP encompassing provincial, city, municipal and barangay roads is very important to facilitate the assessment of connectivity and viability of local road projects within their respective locality. Thus, LRNDP shall be enhanced incorporating all road priority projects in all levels of LGUs in multi-year investment programming which shall be aligned to the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) and to the international development goals, i.e., the Sustainable Development Goals.

The enhanced LRNDP shall adopt spatial planning for total connectivity between road networks and land uses, including Value Chain Analysis – ensuring roads are planned to include total length of upgrading, rehabilitation, improvement and maintenance (including RBIS road markers, safety features, climate resilience and geotechnical stability), using GIS tools; and be guided by the national standard design matrix of appropriate intervention works corresponding to different road conditions and traffic volumes.

The LRNDP is an integrated 5-year development plan for the sustainable development and maintenance of local road networks, contains priority road development activities supported by multi-year financing plan or Investment program. It supports efforts of LGUs to improve local competitiveness through adequate and well-maintained roads infrastructure and better roads connectivity to ease movement of people and goods, and spur local economic development.