Private road plan unveiled
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PRIVATE INVESTORS could be invited to build new roads and be repaid by the Government or road users over several years, according to a newly published report Private Road Ahead.
The document, published by an Anglo-American public policy think tank, the Adam Smith Institute, says that private capital could clear the present backlog of deferred by-pass schemes and other major construction projects.
If private capital is made avail able to build "new public works", the main advantage would be better roads sooner. The City is well endowed with capital for such projects, say the authors Gabriel Roth and Eamonn Butler.
The Government is keen on the idea (see this page), and Transport Secretary David Howell was only prevented from attending this week's launch because of an emergency Cabinet meeting following the Argentinian surrender on the Falkland Islands.
Private Roads Ahead suggests that, having invested in a new motorway or by-pass, a private concern could be paid either by an annual fee from the Government, based on the use which is made of the road, or by directly charging users of the road through tolls or automatic metering systems.