UK’s ‘first private toll road in a century’ being investigated

What is thought to be the first private road in the UK for 100 years has been opened by a businessman in a bid to avoid the hour-long diversion around road works on the key route between the cities of Bristol and Bath, south-west England.
August 5, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

What is thought to be the first private road in the UK for 100 years has been opened by a businessman in a bid to avoid the hour-long diversion around road works on the key route between the cities of Bristol and Bath, south-west England.

Mike Watts spent £150,000 (US$250,000) to build the 400m gravel road in just three days to enable traffic to negotiate the A431 Kelston Road, which has been closed since February because of a landslide. He estimates it will cost another £150,000 to run the toll road for five months.

With motorists paying £2 each ($3.40) way to use the road, it will need to attract 1,000 cars a day if it is to break even.

Watts told newspapers: “Building a toll road isn’t easy to do: this is the first private road in Britain for 100 years. I think people are very grateful that we have taken this risk.”

However, Bath and North East Somerset Council predict the section of the A431 will be open again by Christmas, and has launched an investigation into the toll road, claiming it does not have planning permission and could be dangerous.

“This remains an active landslide, which could move without warning. In the absence of any information from the toll road promoters the council has concerns about the impact of traffic loading on the land above the slip,” said the council in a statement.

“The council is not in a position to support the temporary road option as we have not been provided with any evidence/information to support the application. A temporary toll road requires planning permission and no application has been received.

“In view of public concerns the council’s planning enforcement team is currently investigating this matter. The council has no details to confirm the toll road design meets safety standards and no evidence that insurances are in place for any member of the public who use the private toll road.”

The council added that it had considered a bypass road on the south side of the closure, where it would not increase loading above the landslip, but this was not viable.

Related Content

  • Almost gone: Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge deconstructed
    August 14, 2015
    Three years ago a welder’s cut halved Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge. David Arminas reports from the banks of the Fraser River. By the time this issue of World Highways reaches you, one of Canada’s iconic steel arch bridges will be a shadow of its former self. It’s been a three-year demolition job since the first cut across the deck of the old Port Mann Bridge just outside the city of Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. A new 10-lane 2.2km Port Mann Bridge opened in 2012 (see box). It runs parallel to the o
    Read More
  • Mobile Visual Information Systems’s DATEX on the A14 in the UK
    November 7, 2017
    Highways England has deployed an intelligent transport system that uses portable message signs to display real-time journey information from the National Traffic Operations Centre (NTOC). Mobile Visual Information Systems’s DATEX allows an average of 85,000 drivers daily on a 34km section of the A14 Cambridge-to-Huntingdon upgrade scheme to navigate roadworks. The scheme includes a new bypass, junction improvements, highway widening and creation of access road. The A14 Integrated Delivery Team, on behalf
    Read More
  • British Tunnelling Society conference: digging deep for data
    December 13, 2016
    Tunnelling innovation is creating mountains of data for contractors and designers, delegates to a recent British Tunnelling Society (BTS) conference heard Successful innovation in tunnelling techniques and technologies is creating more and more data, thanks to digitalisation.
    Read More
  • Golden route to success
    July 20, 2012
    Built in 1937 and still the ninth longest suspension bridge in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge across San Francisco Bay remains in fine shape despite its age - Andrew Bardin Williams writes The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 years old on May 27 and continues to play a key role in the transportation, engineering, construction and ITS communities. The structure has played an important historical role, an engineering success that boosted the economy of the region. And it also led the way as the first major pub
    Read More

Highlighted Content