page_title: Toll road
section_title: United Kingdom turnpikes
hierarchical_section_title: Toll road / History / United Kingdom turnpikes
caption_attribution_description: A table of tolls in pre-decimal currency for the College Road, Dulwich, London SE21 tollgate. Photographed by SP Smiler April 2005.
context_page_description: A toll road is a road for which vehicles must pay a fee to use, called a "toll". Toll roads are there in part to control the number of people using it. They may be built to allow some users to travel faster and avoid traffic congestion, speeding up traffic. In the past, tolls were collected to give income to governments or landowners. Today, tolls can be considered a form of tax which pays for the cost of road construction and maintenance that are not charged on those who do not use that road.
context_section_description: The need to build better roads than the existing ones was a reason for turnpikes. Turnpike trusts were established in England and Wales from about 1706. Turnpike trusts were set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls Britain. At the peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts  had about 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of turnpike road in England and Wales. They had almost 8,000 toll-gates. The trusts were responsible for keeping and improving most main roads in England and Wales. This helped distribute agriculture and industrial goods and kept prices low. The Turnpike trusts  were gradually abolished starting in the 1870s.  Most trusts improved existing roads, but some new ones, usually only short stretches of road, were also built. Thomas Telford's Holyhead road (now the A5 road) is exceptional: it was a long new road, built in the early 19th century with many toll booths along its length.
caption: A table of tolls in pre-decimal currency for the College Road, Dulwich, London SE21 tollgate.
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