Over the past 12 years, numerous highway projects in England have been accomplished through the use of public-private partnerships involving a wide variety of contract and financing approaches. These are listed in Exhibit 3.1 on the following page by type of contract and financing approach used.
As noted in Exhibit 3.2, England uses shadow tolling to finance most highway projects involving PPPs. This is due to public opposition to direct user charging through tolls. For most improvement and expansion projects, including the construction of urban bypasses, shadow tolling continues to be used since the existing or parallel facilities are not tolled.
Exhibit 3.2 Types of PPP Highway Project in England
PPP Projects Financed through Shadow Tolls |
• Motorway A1 (M) - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway M1-A1 Link - Shadow Toll DBOM |
• Motorway A13 Upgrade - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A130 Bypass - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A19 Widen and Upgrade - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A30/A35 Lane Improvement - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A4048/A472 Upgrade - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A419/A417 Bypasses - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A50 Bypass - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A55 Extension - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A69 Bypass - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway 40 Widening - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Isle of Sheppey Bridge - Shadow Toll DBFO |
Other Types of PPP Projects, including Tolled Facilities and Maintenance Contracts |
• M6 Bypass Tollway – DBFO |
• Second Severn River Crossing Toll Bridge - DBFO |
• Dartford River Crossing Toll Bridge – DBFO |
• London Road Maintenance PPP |
• National Roads Telecommunications Services PPP |
• Downtown London Congestion Pricing Program – DBO |
• Channel Tunnel - FBO (debt restructured in 2005) |
• Skye Toll Bridge in Scotland - BOT/BTO (concession recently terminated by the Government due to public opposition to the high tolls imposed by the concessionaire) |
Proposed PPP Projects |
• Motorway A2 and A282 Widening - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Motorway A249 Upgrade - Shadow Toll DBFO |
• Mercy River Crossing Toll Bridge – DBFO |
• Thames Gateway Toll Bridge – DBFO |
• Tyne River Crossing Toll Tunnel – BOT |
• Motorway 25 Rehabilitation and Partial Widening (orbital highway around London metropolitan area) - Shadow Toll DBFO |
Opposition to tolling appears to be subsiding somewhat as government agencies are forced to tap other sources of funding (such as private investment capital) to build much needed new capacity. As a result, several large new PPP projects have been financed on the basis of direct user tolls. This includes several large scale highway and bridge PPP projects. Several of these tolled projects and one of the prominent shadow toll financed projects are summarized at the end of this chapter.