Archived press release

LEAKED REPORT UNDERMINES MIDLAND TOLL MOTORWAY Government's Own Report Shows BNRR A Disaster Waiting to Happen

2 July 1998

A secret report leaked to Friends of the Earth shows that Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL)should never have been chosen to build the Birmingham Northern Relief Road (BNRR) -Britain's first and only toll motorway [1]. The report will embarrass Environment Secretary John Prescott, who last July allowed the building of the BNRR to go ahead, despite repreated Labour promises in Opposition that the project would be cancelled..

The leak comes on the day that a major Channel 4 News investigation reveals that a similar toll motorway in the US, run by one of Midland Expressway's parent companies, is now near bankruptcy. Autostrade's Dulles Greenway in Virginia has a similar toll regime to the BNRR. The cost of building it was twice what was forecast and the toll revenue only a third of what was expected. As a result, the State of Virginia may be forced to step in and use taxpayers money to restructure the debts incurred in building it.

The leaked report is an independent analysis for the Department of Transport of the main bids made in 1990 to build the BNRR. The report reveals that Midland Expressway's bid was “seriously deficient in many respects”. It says that:

. the traffic modelling was “unacceptably crude”;

. the market research techniques used were “inappropriate” and based on“implausible behaviour by drivers”;

. the revenue calculations were “optimistic” and concludes that “for these reasons we can have little confidence in the forecasts produced by MEL”.

Gerald Kells, of West Midlands Friends of the Earth said:

“The Birmingham Northern Relief Road is a disaster waiting to happen. Midland Expressway Ltd should never have been chosen to build it. Nothing we have seen in this document or at the public inquiry gives us confidence in their

forecasts. If the income forecasts are as wrong as those for the Dulles Greenway, they could go bankrupt leaving the British taxpayer to foot the bill”.

The Government is resisting publication of a secret concession agreement made between the Conservative Government and Midland Expressway Ltd in 1992, despite a legal challenge by the Alliance Against the Birmingham Northern Relief Road.

A court ruling by Mr Justice Sullivan on whether the concession agreement should be made public, in whole or in part, is expected shortly. The issue of who picks up the tab should MEL go bankrupt will only be known if it is published in full.

Gerald Kells continued:

“John Prescott has papered over the cracks in the BNRR project by giving it the go ahead and by refusing to allow the secret agreement made by his predecessors to be published. The public must be told the full extent of its liability should Midland Expressway go under. ”

[1] The Birmingham Northern Relief Road is a proposed 27 mile long toll motorway running from Coleshill in Warwickshire to near Cannock in Staffordshire. It is Britain's first and only toll motorway and is being built and operated by Midland Expressway Ltd, a joint venture comprising the Italian toll road operators Autostrade and the Norwegian construction company Kvaerner.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust