Letter: Time to nationalise toll roads
Saturday 26th November 2011, 8:48AM GMT.
Surprise, surprise, the M6 toll road is failing to ease road congestion (Star, November 22), yet the Government is considering more toll lanes to beat congestion.
Also, the Star states motoring costs have risen by more than 14 per cent in the past year.
How can all this be reasoned out when there is absolutely no joined-up thinking? Every time traffic reduces on the toll motorway the operators increase the tolls and traffic reduces again – madness.
Take the M5, M6 and M42 network, for example. Traffic on the M6 heading south is going towards London, the south east or east coast ports; to Bristol and the south west, or terminating within the West Midlands.
Northbound traffic is heading to Shropshire or north Wales and Holyhead for Ireland, the north west or Scotland.
All through traffic, except that heading for the south west, Shropshire or north Wales, should use the toll road, and would, if it was part of the network.
How many millions of pounds were spent on providing the fourth lane between junctions 10A and 8 when there was plenty of capacity on the M6 toll, or would be if it were to be de-tolled. This would have left plenty of capacity on the M6 for West Midlands traffic and access to the M5.
As it is, the extra lane has not worked, particularly southbound, as the bottleneck is between junctions 9 (Wednesbury) and 8 (the M5). Joining traffic at junction 9 has to perform a scissors movement to access the M6 and M6 traffic leaving on the M5 has to do the opposite.
Motoring has increased dramatically. When will Government see sense and nationalise the toll road?
John Carroll
Oswestry
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I totallly agree with you John, with the amount of money we pay on fuel, road tax there should be no tolls at all.
May be if they started thinking more as a unit, they could trail the use of the toll road for a period of say 12 mths (free of charge), if it does improve continue with it F.O.C or if you have to charge, just a small amount ..
Rather than keep on putting uo the charges as they do !!!!
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You could also increase the speed limit on the toll roads. This may be an incentive to some to use it more?
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I think the point is that the government can’t be bothered to pay for the construction.
Therefore, anyone claiming that private sector can take over from duties from public sector should feel right at home paying to use a road.
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