M6 Toll

[The Planner]

There are cameras!

There is one just after 4 and in the middle of 8 northbound, thats it.

 

[BananaRepublic]

When I had to regularly travel up from the South coast to the NW (at least 5 or 6 times a year), I would always use the M6 Toll 100% of the time.

M40 - M42 - M6 Toll - M6 is such a natural route and everyone I know uses, or used to use this, in preference to battling around Brum on the M6 or M5.

Norton Canes is also placed at the right distance for us, to make a one stop journey, being about 2 thirds of the way
The previous services at Warwick being far too early in my experience.

After many years of doing that run, I haven't made that journey for about 11 months now and it was interesting to see how in the last 5 years or so, the traffic levels on the Toll had noticeably increased, with quite a few more lorries than ever before.

As others have already said, it's a welcome relief to get onto this stretch of motorway.
Far more relaxing to drive and an opportunity to have a bit of a blast if so inclined.
It's not only the lack of congestion or heavy traffic, or the smooth road surface; it's the way the whole road has been laid out, with wide sweeping verges and landscaping, giving a sense of openness.
A bit of important infrastructure that was done, really well.

I often lamented the decision not have continued and built phase 2 of the Toll all the way to near my final destination in Cheshire, especially so before the M6 north of the toll was widened to 4 lanes.

.

 

[Hadders]

I like the M6 Toll as a road but to be totally frank I'm don't consider £8.60 each way good value for money, unless 'route classique' is heavily congested.

 

[Meerkat]

I always go past the congested bit and park at the very far end in the "overflow" bit which has its own exit back to the "ring road" (the one-way barrier lifts when you drive up to it on exit). That avoids most of it.

That’s a much longer walk, and a longer drive. It’s the trundle from the motorway to the car park that seems to take ages (particularly northbound) compared to simpler ‘roadside’ types.
Inside seems a bad layout. If you want To get to the loo the Costa seating sends you a long way round then it is a narrow passage with gaggles of coach passengers clogging it up.
Does the petrol station have decent parking and loos - that is often the fastest pit stop at other services, but Covid meant I forgot which ones!

 

[Falcon1200]

M40 - M42 - M6 Toll - M6 is such a natural route and everyone I know uses, or used to use this, in preference to battling around Brum on the M6 or M5.

Driving between Scotland and Oxford that is what I do too! And southbound, Norton Canes is a good place to stop before the final leg.

 

[75A]

There is one just after 4 and in the middle of 8 northbound, thats it.

They're both weren't there in the begining though, and pillocks like me would take advantage of that.............nuff said.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That’s a much longer walk

It's not, because you can typically park very close to the building on that side, whereas on the other side you'll invariably be further back. It's also a much easier, less fraught walk because you don't have to cross multiple busy lanes of parking, just walk along the pavement. Sometimes you can even cut in the side door if it has been left open (you're not meant to but nobody is going to stop you).

, and a longer drive.

A matter of seconds.

It’s the trundle from the motorway to the car park that seems to take ages (particularly northbound) compared to simpler ‘roadside’ types.

There is that - my Dad used to be curiously obsessed about not using services (e.g. Rugby) where you had to leave at a junction for some reason I never quite understood - but it isn't that significant time wise.

Inside seems a bad layout. If you want To get to the loo the Costa seating sends you a long way round then it is a narrow passage with gaggles of coach passengers clogging it up.
Does the petrol station have decent parking and loos - that is often the fastest pit stop at other services, but Covid meant I forgot which ones!

It could be better but it's by no means the worst.

 

[jfollows]

They're both weren't there in the begining though, and pillocks like me would take advantage of that.............nuff said.

Me too, I used to drive at 90+mph before cameras, including on this road. No more, that’s probably good for other road users, my health and my wallet.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Me too, I used to drive at 90+mph before cameras, including on this road. No more, that’s probably good for other road users.

I normally drive on the limiter (or cruise, depending how busy it is) set to 73, which is actual 70 according to GPS. I tend these days to almost always be the fastest vehicle. It's interesting how quickly a few cameras has changed the mentality entirely, give or take a few BMW drivers (and even those seem less aggressive than they were).

I'm led to believe the almost totally cameraless M40 can still be like it used to be, though.

 

[75A]

That still leaves the M69, which joins the M1 & M6.

I've gone from one extreme to the other, I was ok on 'normal' roads & Dual Carriageways, but a 100+ bloke on motorways, particularly the M6 & 69 which were both local to me. and didn't have cameras @ the time, I know the M6 does now but I don't think, but don't quote me that the 69 does.

Since crossing the water I've gone from a 911, to a Land Rover and now get a 'nose bleed' over 50mph, mind you the roads where I live are single track with passing places so 30 is often a struggle.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've gone from one extreme to the other, I was ok on 'normal' roads & Dual Carriageways, but a 100+ bloke on motorways, particularly the M6 & 69 which were both local to me. and didn't have cameras @ the time, I know the M6 does now but I don't think, but don't quote me that the 69 does.

I'd never risk 100 and am amazed anyone does - it's an instant ban if caught. While 70 does now seem the norm, 80-85 indicated (so probably 75-82ish depending on the car) was plenty fast enough and in the old days wouldn't result in a ticket, at worst you'd get told off.

 

[CyrusWuff]

I'm led to believe the almost totally cameraless M40 can still be like it used to be, though.

Experience suggests the M40 is pretty much a race track from J5 to J9 (at least), unless TVP are about.

 

[Bald Rick]

Experience suggests the M40 is pretty much a race track from J5 to J9 (at least), unless TVP are about.

As far north as Warwick in my frequent experience. But much, much less so than it was 30 years ago.

Not long after it opened I was doing c80 overtaking in the outside lane when I was approached from behind at speed by a Beamer flashing me out of his way - he went past at over 100 and then cut in front sharpish…. overtaking him was an XJS doing about 130. A couple of minutes later plod went past doing 140+ (he wasn’t in my mirrors one moment, then 10 seconds later he was 200 metres behind!), and then about 20 miles south the XJS was on the hard shoulder with the driver having a no tea no biscuits no licence conversation.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

As far north as Warwick in my frequent experience. But much, much less so than it was 30 years ago.

Not long after it opened I was doing c80 overtaking in the outside lane when I was approached from behind at speed by a Beamer flashing me out of his way - he went past at over 100 and then cut in front sharpish…. overtaking him was an XJS doing about 130. A couple of minutes later plod went past doing 140+ (he wasn’t in my mirrors one moment, then 10 seconds later he was 200 metres behind!), and then about 20 miles south the XJS was on the hard shoulder with the driver having a no tea no biscuits no licence conversation.

In an XJS??? That's even more bonkers! By the time the toll road opened, I'm surprised it didn't shake itself to pieces at those sorts of speeds!

 

[Meerkat]

The M40 is still a racetrack once it gets dark, with a fair bit of undertaking because of muppets doing less than 70 in lane 2.
In our youth we loved that big hill north out of Wycombe, you could get almost any piece of junk over 100mph down that!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The M40 is still a racetrack once it gets dark, with a fair bit of undertaking because of muppets doing less than 70 in lane 2.
In our youth we loved that big hill north out of Wycombe, you could get almost any piece of junk over 100mph down that!

For those in the North, the "racetrack" was always the Eastbound descent from the M62 summit past the farm. The downside being you were a long way from rescue if you screwed up!

These days with fuel prices as they are, almost everyone has slowed down a fair bit now... those that haven't are probably carrying dodgy cargo!

 

[Bald Rick]

In an XJS??? That's even more bonkers! By the time the toll road opened, I'm surprised it didn't shake itself to pieces at those sorts of speeds!

I meant the M40 when it opened (near Warwick)

In our youth we loved that big hill north out of Wycombe, you could get almost any piece of junk over 100mph down that!

+1, assuming you mean the hill from Wycombe south towards Bisham Abbey.

 

[Dave W]

Some excellent discourse here on roads I'm familiar with. Not sure I'm quite so happy with most of Kinver being ripped up for a motorway, but maybe that's just me

I used to have my partner check her phone sat nav with "avoid tolls" switched on - if the M6 was looking ropey (and there was more to it than just comparing the times!) I'd dive up the Toll. As others have mentioned, the general quietness and lack of trundlers meant you could hit a decent whack. Norton Canes used to be an excellent services but has regressed to the level of others over time.

I had a 2004 Honda Jazz which I chucked around like a ragdoll - at a ton it'd start to vibrate, at a ton and 5 it'd develop a wobble, and I never had the plums to go beyond that. Now I'm older (and on my third Jazz - a Hybrid), I tend to panic if the speedo reports north of 85... Mainly because of the impact on fuel consumption now I'm a tight, miserable old sod!

On top of the Western Orbital idea, if the apparent plan to build a motorway from Strensham to the M42/M40 junction - also on Pathetic Motorways - had come to fruition, the Midlands would have pretty much had a ring of motorway cut-offs once the Toll was complete. But would it have been needed?

 

[Meerkat]

I meant the M40 when it opened (near Warwick)



+1, assuming you mean the hill from Wycombe south towards Bisham Abbey.

Nope, the M40. Between 5 and 6 by the TV tower.

 

[Bald Rick]

Nope, the M40. Between 5 and 6 by the TV tower.

Ah I see. That’s not as steep as the A404 south of Wycombe, and it also suffers badly from crosswinds once out of the cutting. Going fast there is decidedly hairy!

 

[CarltonA]

It looks like the tolls have just been increased by 30p for cars and 40p for vans. This is for using the whole length, those turning off earlier will pay the same as before it seems. New technology has been announced such as ANPR and digital devices being accepted.

M6 Toll price increase comes into force

The cost of using the route through Staffordshire has gone up by 30p for cars and 40p for vans.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[The Planner]

It looks like the tolls have just been increased by 30p for cars and 40p for vans. This is for using the whole length, those turning off earlier will pay the same as before it seems. New technology has been announced such as ANPR and digital devices being accepted.

M6 Toll price increase comes into force

The cost of using the route through Staffordshire has gone up by 30p for cars and 40p for vans.

www.bbc.co.uk

Goes back to what I asked before, what time value etc is worth the £9 to people? I would be looking at around 15-20 minutes difference to cough up the nine quid.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Goes back to what I asked before, what time value etc is worth the £9 to people? I would be looking at around 15-20 minutes difference to cough up the nine quid.

There's more to the choice than simply "is the time saved worth £9 by an hourly rate" - it's just a much nicer driving experience. Though at £9 I think I'd say it's starting to get a bit too expensive.

I am actually surprised it isn't dynamically priced, it would be fairly easy to do that based on how busy it and the route through Birmingham is, and to charge each car based on it being ANPRed going past a sign showing the current price.

 

[bramling]

There's more to the choice than simply "is the time saved worth £9 by an hourly rate" - it's just a much nicer driving experience.

Exactly.

With this thread in mind, coming back from Porthmadog the other night I decided *not* to use the toll road for a change - the "case" for using it having originated from the Shrewsbury direction is weaker as a few minutes are lost having to go via A-roads to reach it.

Even in the very late evening, I immediately regretted not using the toll. First of all, straight away there was a hold-up due to "debris in the road". Not a massive loss, cost about 5 minutes, but the bigger consequence was that this then created a surge of traffic, so cue the normal messing about with people hogging the overtaking lanes, frantic lane changes, and all the usual rubbish - just what one doesn't want at midnight in the middle of a 4.5-hour journey, especially in the midst of heavy rain. Then a complete feast of speed limit changes on the variable speed limit gantries, keep flip-flopping between NSL, 50 mph and 40 mph, some of this was due to some lane closures, other speed changes seemed to lack reason.

All in all a pretty unpleasant experience, and a reminder to myself of why I normally use the toll road.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Even the fact that the lanes through Birmingham are quite narrow makes the toll a nicer experience - driving in narrower lanes requires a fair bit of extra attentiveness to stay properly centred and avoid drifting lorries and the likes. I actually find the scenery through Birmingham, while not pretty, quite interesting, but it is quite a tiring road to drive.

 

[route101]

I have used the toll a fair few times heading from the South Coast to the North/Scotland. I feels like a shortcut and feels you have made progress after you have used it. I do find the M6 north of it towads the NW stressful though.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Heading North on the M6 just after J4 there's a sign that has said 'M6 Toll clear' every time I've passed it. There's no incentive for them to say otherwise, of course, but does it ever change?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Heading North on the M6 just after J4 there's a sign that has said 'M6 Toll clear' every time I've passed it. There's no incentive for them to say otherwise, of course, but does it ever change?

I think I have seen a warning of delays on that sign, yes.

 

[Dave W]

Heading North on the M6 just after J4 there's a sign that has said 'M6 Toll clear' every time I've passed it. There's no incentive for them to say otherwise, of course, but does it ever change?

I suppose unless you were looking at that sign every day you'd be unlikely to see it otherwise.

I recall matrix signs that'd show the difference explicitly, but only when the time difference was negligible - I always wondered if that was a mischievous Highways England (or whatever it's called today) controller proving a point.

 

[DarloRich]

I would always use the toll when I had to drive up to Scotland - cuts out a lot of motorway based chew on in the wider Brum area - it is expensive but I feel worth it.

On the journey to Glasgow from Milton Keynes it took a good 40 minutes off the trip. One trip on the M6 near Walsall/Bescot will change your mind on what offers value for money!