The story of a private toll road

There has been a lot of coverage in the national press this year about a private toll road at Kelston in Somerset.

The story began in February of this year, when a section of the A431 had to be closed owing to damage caused by a landslip.  The necessary repair work was not initially scheduled to be completed before Christmas, which prompted a local businessman to rent a nearby field from a farmer, and build his own road to bypass the closed section of the A431.

The Kelston Toll Road took ten days to build, and was soon open to anyone wanting to pay £2 for the privilege of not having to take a lengthy detour.  It looked likely that the road would eventually make a profit, but it is now reported that the council has found the money to complete the repairs five weeks earlier than planned, and the toll road is expected to close before it can show any profit.  It is however expected to break even.

While the businessman behind the toll road has received a lot of praise, he has also attracted a lot of negative comment from people who accuse him of trying to profit from a bad situation for motorists.

My first comment is that many people in Britain vote in elections for politicians who would rather spend money on such things as illegal wars and EU membership than on road maintenance.  If Britain were run by decent politicians, then maybe the A431 could have been repaired within days of the cracks first appearing.

Second, I wonder whether or not the local council ever thought about renting a field and creating a road to bypass the closed section of road.  Had they done so, then the entire bill could have been met from tax revenues, without any need to impose a toll on anyone.

Third, while I admire Mike Watts for building the toll road, it is fair to point out that many business ventures are motivated as much by a sense of community spirit as by a  desire to make a profit.  Likewise, many business ventures end up making a loss, whereas Mr Watts currently expects to break even and thereby make no loss at all.

Update: it has since been reported that Mr Watts did in fact make a loss.