Utility Roads

Utility Roads is a Cities: Skylines 1 utility helper for players who like the idea that roads are more than asphalt. It puts water pipes under eligible road segments, can connect nearby water and sewage service buildings to the road pipe grid, and lets roads act as electricity conduits through the vanilla power grid.

Created by ScratchyBald, Utility Roads is part of the same ScratchyBald Cities: Skylines mod family as Pedestrian Crossing Toolkit, Stop Stacker, Bus Lane Priority, and Auto Public Transit Planner.

The fun bit is that buried utilities make roads feel a little more alive. If pipes and conduits are running under the street, city crews may need to dig them up from time to time. You never quite know when roadworks will crop up or how long they will last, and Utility Roads can show those works with cones, vans, and maintenance crews instead of hiding utility automation in the background. If you prefer quieter utility automation, roadworks can be switched off in Options.

The mod uses vanilla water pipes, the vanilla electricity grid, and detected road network service data. It does not include custom road assets, and it aims to work with ordinary and custom roads by checking whether a built network is actually a road.

Support and bug reports

For new bug reports, please use the public support tracker:
https://github.com/GitHubbier182/scratchys-cities-skylines-mod-support/blob/main/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml

Public source files

Clean public source mirror:
https://github.com/GitHubbier182/cities-skylines-utility-roads

Latest update

For what changed in the current version, open this item’s Steam Workshop Change Notes. This description stays focused on current features, compatibility, requirements, and known limits.

Requirements

– Recommended roadworks visual assets:
– Worker 1 | Full Prop Pack: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2944495796
– MAN TGS Tipper 8×4 (Ore): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2974623708
– Kamaz 6520 dump truck: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3289097641

Utility Roads detects these assets at runtime. If they are not subscribed and enabled, roadworks will still run, but worker/truck visuals may be omitted or fall back to stricter built-in-compatible worker prefabs.

Compatibility

Utility Roads uses vanilla water pipe networks and the vanilla electricity grid. It should work alongside most road, utility, and traffic mods because it does not replace road assets or require custom networks.

Custom roads are supported when they use the normal road service and are inside unlocked city area samples. Roads outside the unlocked area, inactive segments, and non-road networks are skipped.

Traffic and road-management mods may affect how visible roadworks feel in practice. If maintenance crews appear in odd places or behave strangely, please include relevant [UtilityRoads] log lines in the support form.

Current features

– Automatic water pipes under newly placed eligible roads.
– Explicit first-time water setup scan for existing saves, processed in bounded batches.
– Optional automatic water and sewage service-building connection to nearby road pipework.
– Road electricity conduits that bridge uncovered electricity-grid gaps.
– Electricity info-view pulse overlay for road-carried power.
– Destructive rebuild action for road water pipework.
– Destructive cleanup action for overhead power lines.
– Optional unpredictable roadworks visuals with cones, vans, and maintenance crews, plus an in-game Options button to refresh roadworks scheduling.
– Bounded diagnostic logging with the [UtilityRoads] prefix.

Known limits

– Utility Roads changes utility networks. Test it on a disposable save before using it on an important city.
– The first water setup scan and rebuild action can change a city’s water pipe network. They run in bounded batches with progress logging, but use the Options button deliberately.
– The overhead power-line removal action is destructive. It removes power-line network segments and unused power-line nodes, but does not delete power plants, buildings, or road electricity conduits.
– Road electricity still needs enough vanilla electricity production and a valid powered route. It does not make free power everywhere.
– Road electricity is a gap bridge, not a power-plant connector. Off-road generators may still need vanilla power-line planning.
– New-road pipe and electricity updates use low-frequency scans, so utility behavior can appear shortly after construction rather than in the same frame.
– Optional roadworks are intentionally lightweight and may vary by road layout, traffic state, and installed visual assets.
– The mod does not add new road assets, utility buildings, substations, pipe styles, or custom electricity networks.