UK Toll Roads - Cost of Toll Roads in the UK

The UK has only one toll road, the M6 toll north of Birmingham which is also known as the Birmingham North Relief Road. Whereas toll roads have generally been a success elsewhere in the world, the attitude towards paying for travel along a road has been unpopular in the UK given the high cost of other car charges including road fund licence and fuel duty. As a result, the numbers of vehicles using the toll road is around half the projected figure meaning that the M6 Toll Road is currently loss making, discouraging the development of other toll roads in the UK. The small impact it has had on numbers of cars using the M6 free motorway has also encouraged others to shun the toll road.

M6 Toll

Best Option: Cost: M6 saving £3.64  Time: M6 Toll saving 13 minutes



Despite having only one toll road, there are many toll bridges and tunnels in the UK and we've compiled a list of them all in alphabetical order;

Aldwark Toll Bridge

Aldwark Toll Bridge is centuries old and has charged tolls since its completion. The bridge joins Little Ouseburn and Aldwark. It’s claimed that damage to the bridge was caused by an iceberg in the severe winters of the 19th century.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving £5.60 Time: Bridge saving 33 minutes

Bathampton Toll Bridge

Bathampton Toll Bridge links Batheaston and Bathampton in Avon. First built in 1850, it was replaced by the current structure in 1872 and still has the original toll house at one end.


 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving 33p Time: Bridge saving 11 minutes

Cartford Bridge

Cartford Bridge links Poulton-le-Fylde with Lancaster via a cross country route.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving £1.52 Time: Bridge saving 1 minute

Cleddau Bridge

The Cleddau Bridge links Pembroke Dock with Haverfordwest. When built in 1970, it had a construction fault which caused it to collapse and didn’t reopen until 1975.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving £3.80 Time: Bridge saving 35 minutes

The Clifton Suspension Bridge

The Clifton Suspension Bridge was built in 1864 and is mistakenly accredited to Isambard Kingdom Brunel although it was based on his design. It’s one of the most recognisable bridges in the UK but is renowned for suicides given the drop into the gorge below. It saw the first ever bungee jump. It links the Bristol borough of Clifton with Leigh Woods in Somerset.
 
Best Option: Cost: Road saving 63p Time: Bridge saving 9 minutes

The Dartford River Crossing

The Dartford River Crossing links Dartford in Kent with Thurrock in Essex and is the busiest estuary crossing in the UK with over 130,000 vehicles using it daily. It’s a combined crossing of tunnel and bridge, the bridge being completed in 1991 to alleviate pressure on the tunnel which was constructed in the 1950s. Despite the intention to speed crossing of the Thames at Dartford, the system suffers major delays at toll booths at peak times, negating part of the benefit.
 
Best Option: Cost: Crossing saving £4.53 Time: Crossing saving 43 minutes

Dunham Bridge

Dunham Bridge links Newton on Trent with East Drayton. The bridge was built in 1830 and rebuilt and widened in 1975 to cope with extra traffic. In 2012 the bridge had to close due to what was called unprecedented flooding of the Trent.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving £2.53 Time: Bridge saving 32 minutes

The Humber Bridge

The Humber Bridge is an iconic structure which, for 16 years, was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world. It was completed in 1981 and today is the 7th longest bridge in the world at 2.2km. Over 120,000 vehicles a week use the crossing from Barton-upon-Humber to Hessle.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving £9.51 Time: Bridge saving 79 minutes

The Itchen Bridge

The Itchen Bridge leads drivers into Southampton along the A3025 and is one of the iconic sights of the city, especially at sunset. It was built in 1977 and has recently changed to automatic toll collection.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving 60p Time: Same Time

The Kingsland Bridge

The Kingsland Bridge is a privately owned toll bridge that crosses the River Severn at Shrewsbury. It is an attractive bridge built from two metal ribs. Opened in 1883, its toll is one of the lowest in the country at 20p.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving 5p Time: Bridge saving 4 minutes

The Mersey Tunnel

The Mersey Tunnel is split into two, Kingsway and Queensway. Kingsway connects Liverpool with Wallasey whilst Queensway connects the city with Birkenhead. Queensway was the original tunnel, opened in 1934 whilst Kingsway was completed in 1971. The tunnels were used as a scene for the Harry Potter film The Deathly Hallows and have their own police force as well as the most comprehensive CCTV system outside of New York.
 
Best Option: Cost: Tunnel saving £6.63 Time: Tunnel saving 65 minutes
 
Best Option: Cost: Tunnel saving £6.88 Time: Tunnel saving 74 minutes

The Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge

The Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge is a very strange construction that transports people plus cars across the Tees in a gondola. It was completed in 1911 and takes 90 seconds to transport cars and people across the river. During strong gales and high tides, the Tees rises to within inches of the gondola base. It has featured in many films and TV series including Billy Elliot and The Fast Show.
 
Best Option: Cost: Road saving 41p Time: Bridge saving 15 minutes

 

The Tamar Bridge

The Tamar Bridge links Devon with Cornwall and runs parallel to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Tamar Rail Bridge, also known as the Royal Albert Bridge. Tolls only operate from Cornwall into Devon and are currently £1.50. The bridge carries up to 40,000 vehicles a day.
 
Best Option: Cost: Bridge saving £4.21 Time: Bridge saving 48 minutes

The Tyne Tunnel

The Tyne Tunnel project was begun in 1967 and completed in various stages up to 2011. Based around a pedestrian and cycling tunnel that opened ten years previously, the tunnel links Jarrow with North Shields.
 
Best Option: Cost: Road saving 26p Time: Tunnel saving 14 minutes

Other lesser used toll bridges include;

• Warburton Toll Bridge is a privately owned high level cantilever bridge that links Warburton with Rixton in Greater Manchester. The bridge has one of the lowest tolls in the country at 12p per crossing of the Manchester Ship Canal which runs beneath it.
• Whitchurch Toll Bridge is one of only two toll bridges over the Thames and carries traffic from Pangbourne to Whitchurch-on-Thames. It was built in 1792 and was replaced first in 1852 then 1902. Recently it was closed for a year for strengthening work and reopened this September.
• Whitney-on-Wye Toll Bridge was built in 1780 of wood and stone and, under private ownership has changed hands many times over the centuries. It’s a single lane bridge which generates £2000 a week in tolls, crossing the River Wye in Herefordshire.  
• The Swinford Toll Bridge is privately owned and charges the lowest toll in the UK, currently 5p. Over 10,000 cars use it each day. Built in 1769 it replaced a ferry across the river and was sold in 2009 for just over a million pounds.

But our favourite of them is the Kelston Toll Road, which is a product of a local businessman’s entrepreneurial spirit and was opened following the long term closure of the A431 due to subsidence. It will only be operational until the end of 2014 when the repairs to the A431 are expected to be completed. A £2 toll will save you at least 20 minutes and the 15 mile diversion into Bath whilst the road is closed and has brought some welcome employement for the toll booth staff. A legthy retrospective planning application for the project has scuppered any chance of a profit, but the spirit has to be admired, even if the politics involved haven't.