Why the M6 toll road and why PFI?
Thursday, October 16, 2003 Jonathan Miles, from Public Service Review, discusses the benefits that may be brought by congestion cutting measures, in particular the M6 toll road. The PFI funded M6 toll road will ease traffic and congestion in one of the most congested motorways in Europe, and reduce journey times for motorists. The three lane motorway is 27 miles long and reduced journey times are said to save businesses millions of pounds, thus giving greater fuel efficiency, less wasted man hours and a renewed commitment to delivery times. The toll road will run from junction 4 of the M6 and will rejoin at 11a, but cars will have to pay 3 for the privilege. Payment can be made at a manned toll booth or in advance, using an electronic tag system whereby the tag sits on a windscreen and will allow drivers to go through a tag lane. The need to ease congestion through the West Midlands conurbation was realised in 1980 by the Government of the time. The current M6 could not be extended bec
