Buckrogers

First time a couple of weeks ago and I have to say I thought it was great, despite having to pay a couple of squid for it!

Just after you pay, bit like a drag race!!

Not a lorry to be seen. Not surprising when its £8 / £9 pounds per time for them!
For the occasional user, once every couple of months, £2 no problem. Maybe if it was a daily comute then I'd get the ****, but hey, £2 for me, no traffic, no problem!

Anybody else of the same thoughts?

cw42

iTrader: (1)

I'm the same buck, only use occasionally, so don't mind paying the £2, and the bonus of a 1/4 mile time to do when you shoot out of the toll booth
On my way back from wiltshire the other week though, we completely missed it and ended up having to go the "long" way through brum (it rained as usual )
chris.

Neil Smalley

I used it a few weeks back, excellent stretch of road but be aware that it's now one of the police's fav places to catch speeders.

*Sonic*

Ye I agree as above, dont mind paying the odd 2 quid, nice quiet stretch of road, and yes never a wagon in sight

Nice to get a 1/4 mile drag start

Chris L

Yeah agree totally. It saved me at least 45 mins last week when I had to go up to Manchester for a meeting. The entire journey (from my house in Hertfordshire) only took 2.30 hrs, travelling at sensible speeds.

Neil's point about speed is very true. It is tempting as it is rare to find such a nice stretch of road. I did have a play with a new A3 Quattro the first time I went on it. I think I would be a little more cautious now. The crazy thing is, that bit of road is probbably the safest in the country for doing high speeds - not that the police would see it like that

Chris

supertouring

It is a great road, and find that because no lorries use it (I did see 1 last time I used it) everyone uses the near side lane rather than hugging the center one. Everying flows well and the surface is excellent, can't be long before its first set of roadworks though!

I do not see why we cannot extend this to the other motorways by removing lorries from them during peak times or even during daylight hours. The motorways would become the fast roads that they should be.

FrenchBoy

[Dream Mode]

if only it was de-restricted....

[/Dream Mode]

boomer

A guy at work drove along there yesterday (at sensible speeds) and spotted three separate cars that were pulled over by the Police

Must be the fine weather that brings 'em out!

Don't be tempted to put your foot down - especially as you could easily do very silly speeds (in relative safety) - and become a pound or two down and a point or twelve up

mb

*Sonic*

Supertouring, funny your comments about middle lane hoggers

Sadly it isnt true about the Toll Road, as that is the only problem with it, it is full of middle lane hoggers, as they usually have no need to move lanes, so why waste a touch of extra rubber

the M6 toll road, has started to remind me of Formula 1, as there is virtually NO overtaking, as there really isnt much need to as traffic flows reallly well

thecirsch

I used it the second day after it was opened and would not hesitate using it again.

Great bit of road, no hold ups or lorries and best of all you don't have to look at Brum (). All for 2 quid!!!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I've talked to many people who use it and are happy to fork out the money.

I tell them what I think, and I'll say it here too:

If you want to support an operation in which the government is keeping a close eye on to see if it is feasible for them to create more "toll" roads. Then please, pay your way and go ahead. But if you disagree, and you feel that it will be yet another tax burden on the mortorist then boycot it.

If the scheme fails, and the company pulls out / or goes into liquidation then the government may see this as a sign that motorists are not willing to pay more. That is why you don't see any trucks on there - they refuse to use it on the same princicpal

It is a very good road, and is very much needed, but I will refuse to use it on political grounds. There are alternative roads if your willing to open the A to Z and set off 20-30mins earlier it is avoidable.

The police: Like with any brand new road round here, love to patrol it. As the there are no potholes to upset their hemorrhoids!

Redkop

I have yet to see police presence on it

juan

I've seen quite a few folk be pulled up on it.

As for boycotting it, its cheaper to use it than not, it saves time and petrol, therefore money. Its an absolute pleasure to use. Having sat on the alternative route a few times in the past for hours sometimes you can rest assured I'll be using it when appropriate.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

It's not about the money, it's political, do you want more toll roads?

If I knew for certain that this is a one-off toll road then I'd have no problems about using it.

If you mean M6 as the alternative route...there are far more "pleasurable" alternative roads Wouldn't save you fuel though

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Only been on it a couple of times, and thought it was great Would be more than willing to pay tolls on all motorways if they were all like it. So smooth and quiet also appreciated the improved lane useage and the fact everyone was sitting at 90 or so

Agree that it would be easy to lose your license, as it is all too easy to travel at well into 3 figures safely. It really is a stretch of road where a trial for raising the motorway limit should take place, increase the limit to 90 (most people seem to find this natural on it) and see what effect it has on accidents.

Neil Smalley

I don't think that boycotting the road will stop the govt setting up more toll roads. After all nearly a million people demonstrating against the war in Iraq, nor widespread support in the elections for a more euro sceptic point of view has made them change policies.

Nothing short of being voted out of power will make the parites stop and think, and even then I think it's effect will be limited. I fear large scale riots will be coming soon

As for the road, it's dead easy to Vmax if you feel like it, but I've seen loads of reports of the police patrolling it at all hours.

Actually since it's a private road the company could set the speed limit to what it wanted.

juan

If its a private road then do the police have any right to actually nick people on it? They can't nick you driving on private land can they?

*Sonic*

Yes they do, even tho its a private road, it is used by members of the public,so therefore laws apply

Redkop

Don't think a 'private road' like the M6 Toll allows speed limits other than the National ones to be set. There has to be no right of access to the public for no speed limits IIRC

Benji Lad

De-restricted roads....lorries banned from overtaking...nice in theory.....nice in practice....Germany, autobahns, when traffic is heavy the speed limits are enforced, when it lightens up you see the no speed limit sign and lorries/vehicles with trailers see the no-overtaking sign and away everyone goes. Banning lorries from overtaking during peak traffic flow periods essentially frees up another lane for higher speed traffic rather than everyone sitting behind a truck at 60.2mph overtaking another at 59.9mph and leaving only one free lane. Better road skills/driver skill/anticipation helps a lot....many Brit drivers seem to catch up on sleep whilst driving.

Chris L

Benji Lad - very good point. There is nothing more annoying than being caught by a mobile chicane as one lorry tries to overtake another. They should be restricted to the inside lane in peak hours.

The political side of toll roads is interesting. However, the M6 toll road was built for a very specific reason - to relieve the pressure on Europe's (if no the world's) busiest stretch of motorway. Nobody who drives the M6 on a regular basis would argue that it wasn't needed.

Toll roads don't seem to be heavily used in Spain or France, but it doesn't stop them building them!

Chris

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

The problem though, in it's current condition the road doesn't really alleviate the problem on the M6. Why? Well mainly due to the masses and lorries not using it (refer to the post on overtaking at +0.3mph faster than the other lorry). The price is just too high, and it will only go higher after the "reduced" introductory rate ends.

The plan with boycotting in a nutshell is to eventually make this road free or cheaper: The company has massive loans to repay. Like most modern new businesses it works on a 5 year plan to pay everything off and make a profit. If that fails, it'll go belly up. Now, what happens after that is anyones guess, but it's likely to be one of three things. First the liquidators run it on the loaners behalf. Second, it is sold to another private company. Or third the government takes it and will either run it as a no-profit operation, or just open it it as a normal road.

It's a bit far fetched but the outcome maybe be better than what may happen if the scheme makes millions or billions in profit:

If it it seen as profitable, the government will see this as an excellent opertunity to cut public spending and privatise the nations roads! We could have all sorts of private companies spring up and buy currently un-tolled roads and start charging what they like. And any new roads built thereafter will be a toll road.

All speculative of course, but that is my prediction of the future. Whether boycotting will help prevent the ineveitable I don't know, but it may help.