Hauliers set to shun the new toll motorway

Lorry firms say they plan to keep using the crowded M6 through Birmingham rather than pay to use the new toll motorway when it opens later this year.

Freight operators said in August that the charges for heavy goods vehicles on the new road were too high, and that most drivers would stick with the free motorway.

The price is wrong

The Birmingham Northern Relief Road, which will be known as the M6 Toll, is due to open before the end of the year. It will run for 27 miles from Coleshill in the east to Cannock in the north, allowing drivers to bypass the most congested stretch of the M6 through Birmingham, including Spaghetti Junction.

The road is being built and will be run by Midland Expressway Limited, a private company, which will set the tolls. Lorries will pay several times as much as cars to use the road.

Haulage companies, which operate on tight margins, say the charges will wipe out any savings from shorter journey times. Many of their vehicles use the M6 every day, and paying the toll on every journey would add significantly to their costs.

A missed opportunity?

The M6 through Birmingham is one of the busiest roads in Britain, carrying well over 100,000 vehicles a day on its busiest sections. A large share of that traffic is lorries, and congestion is a daily problem, especially at peak times.

Supporters of the toll road had hoped it would take a large number of lorries off the M6, easing congestion for everyone. If hauliers stay away, the benefits for other drivers could be much smaller than expected.

Some motoring groups have welcomed the higher charges for lorries, arguing that car drivers find them intimidating and that they slow down traffic. Others say the pricing risks defeating the purpose of the road.

Britain's first toll motorway

The M6 Toll will be Britain's first toll motorway. The project was announced in 1989, and the contract to build and run it was awarded to Midland Expressway in 1991. The company will run the road for 50 years before handing it back to the government.

The road has faced fierce opposition from environmental campaigners, who fought it at public inquiries and through protests on the route. Construction began in earnest last year, and the road is now nearing completion.

The builders, a consortium of major contractors, used an unusual material in the road surface: millions of pulped books were mixed into the asphalt, helping to bind it together.

What happens next

Midland Expressway has not ruled out changing the tolls if traffic levels are lower than expected. The company says it is confident that many drivers will be willing to pay to avoid the delays on the M6.

The opening date is expected to be confirmed in the coming months. For now, hauliers are making it clear that, at current prices, they will not be using the new road in large numbers.