£1,000-an-inch to widen M6
The cost of widening the M6 between the Black Country and Manchester will rise to about £1,000 an inch, it was estimated today.
A plan to expand the motorway to four lanes between Junction 11A near Cannock and Junction 19 in Cheshire is the latest plan to ease congestion on one of Britain's busiest stretches of road.
At the current estimated cost of £2.9 billion for the 51-mile stretch, it works out at £897 for every inch.
But with construction inflation running at more than three times the retail price index, the eventual bill to the taxpayer will work out at more than £1,000 an inch.
Most environmental groups remain happier with a widening scheme rather than a new toll motorway running parallel with the existing road - a scheme which would have been cheaper but was rejected by the Government last year.
Building around an existing busy road is more expensive because of the need to widen bridges and employ night work to cause as little interference as possible with traffic.
Campaign group Transport 2000 today declared the proposed scheme as "the most expensive roadworks in history".
The estimated £35,000 a metre of the widened M6 compares with the £2,610 cost for the original M1 when it was built in 1959 - and £180 a metre for a cycle lane.
The Highways Agency is preparing a business proposal for the M6 widening, which the Government will consider in due course.
