Should I pay for M6 Toll. Is it worth it? Does it chop an hour off the journey?

Aubrey_Thicket

Hi all

Now before I start it is worth considering that I am a true money saver and have even previously been called tight.

So, my wife and I are travelling from Manchester to Devon on Friday. We aim to leave Manchester around 8 am in the morning and we expect the journey to take about 4 1/2 hours. So I was telling this to my mate in the pub last night and he says to me “Surely you will use the M6 toll”? I replied ”No” because I am under the impression that the cost of the M6 toll is not really returned in the journey time saving. My pal tells me “Put it this way. If you use the toll road it will chop one hour off your journey“.

Now, I have no reason to believe that this is not true however this does sound a bit wild. Therefore my question is aimed at you motorists who regularly use the M6 motorway and the M6 toll. Taking into account that we should be hitting the M6 Toll at about 10 am or 11 am on a Friday morning heading south what are your opinions on us using the toll or not using the toll? Is it actually worth the cost? Is it going to save me an hour driving time?

Thanks all.

DoaM

Never used it myself ... but only because I've never needed to go anywhere down that side of the country since it came into effect. Anecdotal evidence from other people I know is that they love it as it saves them loads of journey time.

How much is it?

poppasmurf_bewdley

If you are travelling from Manchester and Devon, you shouldn't need to use the M6 Toll at all.

It's straight down the M6 to the M5 all the way to Devon.

Aylesbury_Duck

I think the sensible tactic is to have your passenger keep an eye on google maps as you near Birmingham so you can see what the traffic is like on the old M6. I've used it when travelling for business because my company paid but have only ever used it once heading south on a personal journey when the radio told me about very long delays on the other route. I tend to ignore the matrix signs as they seem permanently set to encourage people to use the toll road.

Aylesbury_Duck

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

If you are travelling from Manchester and Devon, you shouldn't need to use the M6 Toll at all.

It's straight down the M6 to the M5 all the way to Devon.

True, but when there is a delay, it's typically on the section after the toll entry and before the M6/M5 junction.

Mercdriver

The M6 toll will take you out of the way. You would need to use the M42 to get back to the M5. Even with the overpass roadworks the delay was never enough to justify using the M6 toll.

Aubrey_Thicket

Thanks guys.

Some excellent advice here from people who obviously know more than my mate in the pub.
So, to clarify... it’s just M6 on to M5 with no need for M6 toll?

Cheers guys.

poppasmurf_bewdley

If you are not in a hurry on your journey, do what I do and come off the M6 at Junction 15, drive via Eccleshall and Shifnal to Worcester and regain the M5 at Junction 6 or 7.

It's a much nicer drive, slightly shorter and adds about half an hour to the journey.

Mercdriver

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

If you are not in a hurry on your journey, do what I do and come off the M6 at Junction 15, drive via Eccleshall and Shifnal to Worcester and regain the M5 at Junction 6 or 7.

It's a much nicer drive, slightly shorter and adds about half an hour to the journey.

That area of the A442 around Shifnal is horrible. I cycled that way from the Lake District and it was a horrid part of the road...

poppasmurf_bewdley

Mercdriver wrote: »

That area of the A442 around Shifnal is horrible. I cycled that way from the Lake District and it was a horrid part of the road...

I regularly drive from Worcestershire to Stockport, and would never dream of using the M5/M6 link. I always use the cross country route and have only encountered a problem once with a road closure on the outskirts of Shifnal.

DoaM

Driving a road and cycling the same road will likely yield very different experiences.