Don Ross

Matthew Townshend

Since 1999, and since 2012 with Matthew Townshend, I’ve worked on improving the efficiency of maintenance and upgrading of South Africa’s rural road network. Unlike many developing countries that have fewer roads than they need, South Africa inherited from its history a network that’s too large to be sustainably maintained, given fiscal constraints, based on best engineering criteria alone. Optimising value to, and universality of access for, rural communities must drive prioritisation and choice of surface materials for upgrading.

SA’s constitution promises every citizen access, via a nearby road, to basic health and education services. How can we best ensure this while also maintaining a network that supports the country’s economic growth by efficiently linking centres of production, consumption, exports, and employment?

This work has mainly unfolded through consultancy reports, most recently as part of larger projects commissioned by the World Bank and the South African National Roads Agency.