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turnpike road

Road with a gate or barrier preventing access until a toll had been paid, common from the mid-16th-19th centuries. In 1991 a plan for the first turnpike road to be built in the UK since the 18th century was announced: the privately funded Birmingham northern relief road, 50 km/31 mi long.

History

In 1706 Parliament created the first turnpike trust, a scheme by which local business people could charge a toll for using a road, using the money received to maintain the road. After 1750 there was a ‘mania’ for turnpikes: 870 acts were passed in the 20 years after 1751, and by 1830 there were some 1,100 trusts, created by around 4,000 separate acts, administering more than 35,000 km/56,000 mi of road. Whereas the first turnpikes had been in the counties close to London, trusts after 1750 were set up mainly in the midlands, and after 1790 were concentrated in the north of England, reflecting the changing pattern of economic growth during the Industrial Revolution. Many of the trusts were fraudulently administered, and the Turnpike Act of 1822 required trusts to keep accounts. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that, by the 1830s, the turnpikes were investing about £1.5 million a year in the UK road system. The improved roads allowed a significant increase of haulage traffic, passenger coaches, and a national postal service.

Metcalf, John

road