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M6 TOLL: SOME DO, SOME DON'T
Page 29
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While the FTA has identified several sections of motorway that it says would benefit from widening, one of the most recent examples of motorway building continues to cause controversy in the industry.
The M6 Toll, designed to relieve one of the most congested roads in the country, the M6 in Birmingham, opened late last year at a cost of £900m. However, with atoll of £10 for trucks operators have shown a remarkable lack of interest in the 26-mile road. The annual bill for an HGV using the M6 Toll twice a day would amount to around £5,000; for a fleet of 20 trucks this adds up to an extra cost of £100,000. As Geoff Dossetter, head of external affairs at the ETA, notes, the road has to offer a substantial cost saving in order to counterbalance these high charges: "Until something changes to make this the road of choice as opposed to a distress purchase... trucks on the M6 Toll will remain extremely rare."
It should be noted that the ETA was an enthusiastic backer of the scheme right up to the point at which the toll levels were announced: it says MEL, the company that runs the M6 Toll, had promised a rate of £4 at public inquiries into the project. With major roadworks due on the M6 this summer, hauliers are now calling for a toll reduction to make their situation more bearable. Another bone of contention has been the point-blank refusal of MEL to release traffic figures showing a breakdown by vehicle type. The Highways Agency has been
conducting a monitoring project; the results are due in the near future, but it is understood that this is based on a simple visual count so it won't be exact.
Transport minister Tony McNulty admits: "Currently, there is no breakdown between cars, vans and lorries available but indications are that traffic flows comprise mainly cars and light vehicles with HGVs continuing to use the original M6 route." A Highways Agency spokesman in Birmingham says the volume of HGVs on the new road is lower than the Highways Agency and MEL had anticipated.
However, two high-profile firms continue to use the route: French giant Norbert Dentressangle and Cheshire-based James Warr & Sons. Its boss David Irlam is pleased with the road so far: "It's working well for us, especially at peak times," he says. "We're very happy with it."