Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Wright (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 17 January 2006 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

M6 Toll Road

Question: Does my hon. Friend know that the M54 was recently voted one of the most popular motorways in Britain? That is, of course, largely because it goes to and from Telford— And wider Shropshire, of course. However, one of the problems that the business community in particular complains about is the fact that people cannot go northbound directly off the M54 on to the M6, and there is no direct link, of course, to the M6 toll road. It would be particularly advantageous to local business in Telford and across Shropshire if those links could be made. Will the Minister look very seriously at the proposal?

Answer: I have no doubt that the quality of the drive experience on the M54 and the destinations that can be reached on it are responsible for its popularity. On paper, the case for the scheme looks very strong— I can certainly understand the benefits to the local economy—but we must consider it very carefully, and we must also consider the disadvantages and weigh the benefits against those disadvantages. In particular, we must know what we are going to do with the M6 before we can finalise the design scheme, so we cannot commit ourselves at this stage, although I repeat that it looks as though there is a strong case.

Secondary information