M6 Toll opens as Britain's first major toll motorway

The M6 Toll, Britain's first major toll motorway, has opened to traffic, offering drivers a way to bypass the congested M6 through Birmingham and the Black Country - for a price.

The road partially opened on 9 December for traffic joining from local junctions, and will be fully open from 14 December.

Twenty years in the making

The 27-mile, six-lane motorway runs from the Coleshill Interchange at Junction 3a of the M6 to Junction 11a near Wolverhampton. It was originally planned as the Birmingham Northern Relief Road, a publicly funded motorway first proposed in 1980.

The road was designed to relieve the busiest section of the M6, which carries up to 180,000 vehicles a day, despite being designed for only 72,000.

In 1989 the Government announced the road would be built privately. Midland Expressway Limited won the competition in 1991, securing a 53-year concession: three years to build the road and 50 years to operate it, after which it will return to the Government. The company pays for the road and recovers its costs through tolls, which it can set at its own discretion.

Construction

Site clearance began in 2000, and major construction work started in the summer of 2002.

Lorries

The pricing has already caused controversy. In August, freight operators said they planned to keep their lorries on the congested M6 rather than use the new road, because of the high fees.

The AA Motoring Trust said it welcomed the decision to charge lorries a premium rate. "Car drivers find lorries intimidating and they frequently hold up traffic on motorways when overtaking each other," it said.

Will it work?

The success of the road will depend on how many drivers are willing to pay to avoid delays on the M6. If tolls are too high for hauliers and commuters, much of the traffic may simply stay where it is.

The road has one service station, at Norton Canes, and two main toll plazas.

For Birmingham drivers heading north, the M6 Toll offers a new choice: pay to avoid one of the most congested stretches of motorway in the country, or stick with the free road and the queues.

The road has two main payment plazas, Great Wyrley for northbound traffic and Weeford for southbound traffic. Toll rates can be reviewed every six months, and there is no cap on what the operator can charge.

The road is also known as the Midland Expressway, and the deal to build it was an early form of public private partnership.