NRA halts talks with NTR over M50 toll bridge

The National Roads Authority has said that it has stopped negotiations with National Toll Roads (NTR) as it was not happy with the value for money being offered on the M50 westlink toll bridge.

"We're going to move ahead of ourselves with a strategy that will involve the end of tolling at westlink and the introduction of barrier-free tolling so that traffic can move through at normal speeds," a spokesman said.
The NRA will respect the terms of its contract with NTR, which runs up to 2020. The private company will be paid a share of the toll revenue based on 2007 levels, with inflation also considered.

The NRA will then tender for another company to run the electronic tolling system.
The westlink toll bridge has been blamed for some of the worst congestion on the Dublin motorway, which is used by up to 100,000 motorists every day.
The Westlink toll bridge on the M50 will be replaced by barrier-free electronic tolling by 2008.