You can't build your way out of congestion, said John Prescott in 1999. Now, according to Alistair Darling, you can, as long the private sector pays. The M6 Expressway, a tolled dual-carriageway shadowing the M6 from Cannock to the south of Manchester, has been proposed. But why in this location? Why, when far more severe bottlenecks exist elsewhere? Why, when some £8 billion has been ploughed into upgrading the West Coast Main Line? Just like in Scotland with the Poll Tax, it seems the Midlands is to be a testing ground to familiarise drivers with road charging before the real endgame: tollbooths along other motorways such as the M25. In the meantime, the people of Staffordshire will see 50 miles of new dual-carriageway built next to what has never been considered too busy a stretch of a motorway and which is, in other places, extremely busy. Indeed, until yesterday, it was only ever thought that one extra lane on each carriageway would be needed. Apparently a new dual-carriageway will be cheaper, with fewer junctions. The land needed to build the road will be vast and yet there is no convincing evidence it is vital for this stretch of motorway, which is used by an average of 115,000 vehicles a day. The ten per cent shaved off the 140,000 to 160,000 vehicles which travel on the M6 through Birmingham by the M6 Toll has been hailed as evidence of the need for road charging. The logic of the argument for the new road is illusive. It seems roughly 150,000 cars a day passing through Birmingham with a toll road is a success, yet a few miles up the road, just 115,000 vehicles a day in Staffordshire is unacceptable. And even though there was a positive report card for the M6 Toll's effect on the M6 through Birmingham, it took virtually no congestion-causing and road surface-damaging lorries from the road. The Government may accuse the West Midlands of being ungrateful for all the new investment in the M40, West Coast Main Line and the M6 Toll. But do any of them benefit the West Midlands as a first priority? The answer has to be 'no'. And will the M6 Expressway benefit the West Midlands first? It's hard to see how. The business community will be happy with extra investment in roads but it would be even happier if the same money was poured into transforming Birmingham into a city with clear roads and attractive mass-transit systems with integrated trams and buses. With the expressway plan, drivers will still be funnelled into three-laned chaos in the West Midlands. Nothing can be done to widen the M6 here, unless all the elevated sections are knocked down and something better put in their place. And consider the local road network and public transport options when all these people who can whizz between Birmingham and Manchester reach their destinations. In Birmingham, certainly, they will once again be at the mercy of a sub-standard public transport network and critically congested roads. They will be well-served by long-distance options, but these will be first-class connections to hopelessly disconnected cities. Related Articles:
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