Road safety aspects in the management of road maintenance

The last decade in Poland has been a period of intense expansion of the public roads network. During this period a spectacular increase in the number of vehicles and traffic intensities has been noticed. Considering this, organising and carrying out maintenance work is increasingly important. The paper provides a brief analysis of currently used maintenance models in Europe and Poland and their characteristics which determine the safety of both road users and workers carrying out roadworks. The historical change in the approach towards the quality of road maintenance, the evolution of the economic model and a description of how the expectations and preferences of drivers have changed are included in the paper. In addition, the paper presents specific road maintenance standards and suggestions for maintenance and road works. The summary of the paper gives a recommendation for future development directions and suggests which features of road maintenance models and standards improve safety to the highest degree, particularly in the context of the further development of the road network.