• Local Opposition to the Project. Project delayed eight years due to longest ever public inquiry for a road project - due in large measure to the introduction of tolls and the determined opposition of nearby residents to the facility that would be paying the tolls. Most British citizens had become used to toll-free trunk since most new construction during the 1990s was financed by shadow tolls, whereby the Government reimbursed the project development team over time through what were essentially availability payments using general and transportation program funds without the users having any direct fees to pay to use the roadways.
Major objections by people living adjacent to the route (well organized Alliance Against the BNRR or AABNRR group)) caused serious delay by protracted legal procedures including High Court Challenges. Certain opponents to the project went so far as to climbed trees, built tunnels, and occupied buildings in the planned right-of-way for the new tollway. They were removed by the police and tunnelling/climbing specialists.
To overcome this opposition, the PPP eventually negotiated an agreement with AABNRR to cease their challenges to the project based on certain conditions being met by the concessionaire. In keeping with the environmental sensitivity of the surrounding community, the M6 Tollway uses noise reducing asphalt that significantly reduces the environmental impact of the highway on adjacent neighborhoods and provides a more comfortable journey for patrons of the toll road.
• Cost Risks of Changing Standards during Highway Development Period. Given the long time period to begin highway design following signing of the concession agreement (eight years), there were a number of road design standards which were changed by the Highways Agency which impacted the cost of the project. In this case, since the changes were generated by the Highways Agency, the risks for changes in design standards were held by the project sponsor -the Highways Agency.
This was highly beneficial to the concession team, since the delays in the progress of the project were the result of public opposition not delays by the concession team which was ready to begin design as soon as the concession agreement was signed.
• Quality, Schedule, Cost, and Performance Risks during Concession Term. Under the terms of the agreement, the concession team bore the entire risks for the project except for design standard changes. This included planning, delivery, cost, quality, revenue, and even some statutory risks. Once the public opposition to the project was overcome, these risks were managed entirely by the concession team, led by Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG), which owns 100 percent of Midland Expressway Ltd, the concessionaire
team for the M6 Tollway till 2054.
The successful management of these many risks can be attributed to the following features of the concession arrangement:
- The technical capability and experience of the concession team;
- The long-term commit of the concession team to the project;
- Delegating technical quality approval authority to the concession team, which allowed for timely structural inspections and approvals and enabled the design-build program to proceed on schedule;
- An integrated contract that included delivery of the tolling systems under the main DBFO contract; and
- The strong positive partnering relationship that was established and maintained throughout the project between the concession team and the project sponsor, the Highways Agency.