The government is asking for views on a new toll road between Birmingham and Manchester to relieve congestion on the M6.
It has also announced plans to reserve some motorway lanes for cars carrying at least two people in another move to cut congestion and improve journey times.
Building an M6 expressway could provide:
More reliable journeys as drivers could choose to use the faster toll road and those who chose to pay would free up space on the existing motorway
Roadwork’s without delays as construction would not affect traffic on the existing motorway, while widening could take up to eight years
More road capacity at a lower cost than widening the M6
The consultation paper makes clear that a careful assessment of the wider social, economic and environmental impacts will be made before any decisions are taken.
The consultation coincides with new figures showing that drivers on the new M6 toll road are benefiting from shorter journey times, and traffic levels on the M6 have fallen by ten per cent.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said: "Given the success of the M6 Toll in improving congestion, I believe that it is now right to look at extending the tolled motorway and building a new Expressway to run parallel with the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester, as an alternative to widening the existing road."
The Highways Agency will consider four stretches of road for the pilot scheme to dedicate motorway lanes to vehicles carrying two or more people:
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M62 Junction 25 to 27, (Brighouse and Leeds)
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M3 Junction 3 to 2 (M25) into London
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M1 Junction 13 to 7 (Milton Keynes South to St Albans)
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M61 Junctions 6 to 3, (north west of Manchester)
They could be created by using the hard shoulder or adding extra lanes.
"I hope that drivers will be encouraged to consider car pooling to take advantage of the new lanes," said Mr Darling. "It works elsewhere. There is no reason why it can't work here as well."
