Kelston toll road

The Kelston toll road was a 1,198-foot-long (365 m) private, temporary toll road, built by a private entrepreneur without planning permission between Bath and Kelston, 9.5 miles (15.3 km) southeast of Bristol in Bath and North East Somerset, England. It opened on 1 August and closed on 17 November 2014, when the A431 road reopened.

Toll booth at the east end of the temporary toll road
Kelston Toll Road in OpenStreetMap at 9 November 2014

Context

The road ran to the north of and parallel to Kelston Road, a part of the A431 road that was closed on 17 February 2014 due to a landslip.[1] The toll road's west end was located at 51.396246°N 2.421970°W / 51.396246; -2.421970; the east end at 51.395836°N 2.417534°W / 51.395836; -2.417534. As it was anticipated that the A431 would stay closed until the end of 2014, on 1 August 2014 the Kelston toll road opened for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and a toll fee of £2 per car and £1 per motorcycle. The entrepreneur was 62-year-old Mike Watts who followed a suggestion made by his wife. The toll station was without boom barriers. Without the Kelston toll road some road drivers would have needed to follow a detour of up to 10 miles (16 km), though much less for a journey between Bristol and Bath where the parallel A4 road could be used. By early October 2014, the road had been used by 100,000 vehicles. The cost of the toll road was £150,000, with a further £150,000 for the toll station, maintenance and other expenses.[2][3][4]

Operation

In September 2014, Watts applied to Bath and North East Somerset Council for retroactive planning permission. Although a decision had been expected on 3 October, it was delayed until the end of the month.[5] Permission was eventually withheld, and it was reported that Watts could be facing losses because the A431 was to be reopened earlier than originally expected. The council issued Watts with a demand for £3,000 in business rates.[6]

The road closed on 17 November 2014, when the A431 reopened. Watts said: "We have lost out - a rough estimate is probably about £10,000 to £15,000 adrift. But I'm not complaining." He said that the toll road would now be dug up, and that "within six months nobody would know the Kelston toll road had ever existed".[7] As the toll road company had insufficient funds for the reinstatement works, the original builders of the road offered to do this at no charge. HM Revenue and Customs also agreed to waive the shortfall in VAT due.[8]

It was reported that construction of the toll road was likely to have caused damage to archaeological remains of medieval strip lynchets: as a result archaeological investigations will need to be carried out during the reinstatement of the land in order to understand what was there and the damage caused.[9]

The council had to spend a further £660,000 to finish the A431 repairs, required to provide deeper pilings found necessary as the works progressed, taking repair costs to about £2 million.[10][11][12]

References
  1. "Flood-damaged A431 road to remain closed amid 'fatal' landslip fear". BBC News. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. "Temporary toll road for A431 at Kelston opens to traffic". BBC. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. "Kelston toll road 'needs more vehicles' to break even". BBC. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. Perry, Keith (8 October 2014). "Entrepreneur's private toll road welcomes 100,000th vehicle". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. "Kelston Toll Road application decision delayed by Bath and North East Somerset Council". Bath Chronicle. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014.
  6. "The man behind Kelston Toll Road could be left in debt". ITV. 31 October 2014.
  7. "A431 Kelston Road reopens as toll road closes". BBC News. 17 November 2014.
  8. Rachel Gardner (10 February 2015). "Builders return Kelston toll road to fields free of charge to help limit businessman's losses". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  9. "Kelston toll road couple hit out at council". Bristol Post. 13 November 2014. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  10. "Businessman accuses council of 'ridiculous' objections to private toll road at Kelston". BBC. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  11. "Flood-damaged A431 at Kelston likely to cost £1.5m to fix". BBC News. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  12. "Flood-damaged A431 at Kelston to get extra £660,000 in council funding". BBC. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.

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