Skip Navigation | HOME | UK Indymedia | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

manchester Indymedia

new M6 toll motorway comin' at'cha?

cyclist | 07.07.2004 19:23 | Ecology

new M6 toll motorway from Birmingham to Manchester?
Stop them being silly, now!



Second toll motorway to be built

Plans for Britain's second private toll motorway have been announced by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling.

The 50-mile highway, linking Birmingham to Manchester, could straddle the M6 motorway with two northbound lanes and two going south if it went ahead.

It would join with the existing M6 Toll, which by-passes north Birmingham.

Mr Darling also revealed a "carpooling" pilot scheme to reserve lanes for cars carrying two or more people on sections of four motorways including the M1.


'Policy shift'

The new motorway would be twice as long as the current M6 Toll and could cost more to use - although charges have yet to be decided.

A consultation period until late September now follows.

Charges on the current toll road are about £2 a day for cars, and £10 a day for lorries.




UK ROADS - THE FACTS
Heaviest traffic levels in Europe
Motorists earn the government an estimated £42bn a year
Eight out of 10 people expect congestion to get worse
Motorways are statistically the safest roads
Eight out of 10 motorists say they cannot do without their car
Source: RAC


Mr Darling told MPs the success of the M6 Toll indicated the time was right for this new road.

He said the scheme would "double the capacity" at a lower cost than widening the existing road and would also give motorists a choice and "allow more reliable journeys".

But environmental groups have reacted angrily to the proposals.

Stephen Joseph, director of campaign group Transport 2000, said he was concerned about a move towards "American-style 10-lane highways across the countryside".

"What we seem to be being offered by this government is choice on which road to drive and whether to pay for it, rather than whether you can drive or use public transport," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.




PROPOSED M6 TOLL
longest stretch of new motorway proposed since the M40 extension between Oxford and Birmingham in 1991
it would create a five-lane M6, which was rejected as an idea in 2002
could affect large areas of housing in Stafford and four key sites of scientific or biological interest
would take more than 10 years to build and would meet forecasts of traffic growth until at least 2030


The government argues that the two stretches would give paying motorists more than 70 miles of jam-free motoring.

Traffic would also be drawn away from the old M6, benefiting those drivers not prepared to pay the tolls, it says.

And it believes building a separate motorway alongside the M6 would cause less disruption than widening the current road.

BBC transport correspondent Tom Symonds says the proposal is a "major shift in government policy towards paying to use motorways, an idea conceived by the Conservatives".

The Commons announcement will be followed by a three-month consultation.

Railways

Professor David Begg, chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport, argued toll roads were part of "a much wider integrated policy".

He told the Today programme: "A comprehensive spending review is coming up and, without pre-empting that review, railways will be the big, big winner."

National Alliance Against Tolls spokesman John McGoldrick said toll roads often led to further congestion on other roads because motorists refused to pay extra.

He said the alliance was planning a boycott of toll roads in September.

Recently opened

RAC Foundation executive director Edmund King broadly welcomed the announcement but urged the government to build "some degree of control into the levels of service and tolls charged".

The M6 Toll near Birmingham became the UK's first pay-as-you-go motorway when it opened in December 2003.

John Major's Conservative government began the project in the 1990s.

The building of the M6 Toll followed recommendations by transport consultants to the government at the beginning of 2002 to widen the M6 motorway to four lanes in both directions.

Their plans, which called for extra lanes over a 50-mile stretch, were not adopted.

taken from  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3868753.stm

Road Raging: top tips for wrecking road building (& campaign tips generally)  http://www.eco-action.org/rr

cyclist
- Homepage: http://www.eco-action.org/rr

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Comments

Hide the following 2 comments

arrgh

07.07.2004 21:10

how many more miles of poured concrete do we need? I was reading an article about it today and the majority of comments were by Manchester businessmen wanting to get their arses up the motorway quicker. Because business can't wait.

seriously time to stop them being silly (and the 'carpooling' is to convince waverers its all green really, honest). Ignoring the fact car pool lanes were shut down quickly in europe after motorists on the main motorway lanes got seriously pissed off with seeing all that open freelane with hardly anyone on it. didn't make any difference to the motorway already built. they just got to shut the carpool lane and open an extra lane.

ah bless.

heather


this would be great

27.06.2006 09:56

The M6 toll is great - it really cuts down the time to get from London to Liverpool.

It would be great to extend this right up the M6 - I would certainly use it to get a quicker journey up north.

Jonathan


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Manchester Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Manchester Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Manchester Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Manchester Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Manchester Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Manchester Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Manchester Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Manchester Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Manchester Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Languages

english

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech