West Midlands Police chief: M6 Toll decision must be ours not London's
West Midlands PCC David Jamieson has called for decisions about the M6 toll to be made in the region, not in London.
He added that he was 'truly astonished' that there was no strategic plan in place for if there was a crash on the M6.
Operation Freeway gives the Government's transport secretary the power to open up the toll when there is major disruption on nearby routes.
But Mr Jamieson criticised the plans that have recently received a six month extension.
Speaking to the Express & Star Mr Jamieson said: "What was very disappointing with that debate that was held at parliament was the roads minister actually said that they would only open the the M6 toll, in what they call Operation Freeway, when there was an emergency and he thought the road network being closed for 24 hours was not an emergency. The question all the members of parliament were asking just what is an emergency.
"So at the moment Operation Freeway, which opens up the M6 toll in emergencies and you do not have to pay the toll fare, that is non-functional as far as I am concerned.
"There is two issues here. One is that having a local decision about the M6 Toll here in the West Midlands, not one made by the secretary of state sat in London. The second issue is the management of incidents has got to be done properly because the particular incidents on February 4 that closed the M6 going across the north of Birmingham, which affected everywhere Black Country and all, they allowed the traffic to back up to such an extent that you could not even get onto the toll. So the toll ceased to be an issue half way through the day, the toll was empty because you could not get onto it whether you wanted to or not. We need to manage the whole of the Birmingham box and have a proper strategic plan when there is an incident on the motorway, as at the moment that plan does not exist at all. It is truly astonishing it does not exist and that Highways England have not put that in place."
Mr Jamieson has been calling for more use of the M6 toll as a relief road for the M6 after the latter was closed for 24 hours earlier this year.
He held an inquiry into the events of February 4 where one of his conclusions was for the police, councils, and Highways England to work closer together and form a series of plans on how to deal with large-scale incidents.
