State to compensate M3 toll firm for light traffic

Ok this really takes the ****

Taxpayers will have to compensate the operators of the new M3 motorway if the number of motorists using the road falls below agreed targets.
For the first time, the National Roads Authority has agreed a "minimum traffic level" in its contract with the toll company Eurolink.
If traffic falls below expectations, the State will have to make up the shortfall in payments to the firm.
The NRA says the agreement is necessary to attract private investment in the project.
The controversial €650m motorway, which passes through the Tara-Skryne Valley in Co Meath, is due to open in the middle of next year.

Click to expand...

How on earth could an agreement like this exist on a public road? Surely there is no way to force someone to use a particular stretch of road when there is a cheaper (maybe longer) alternative.

I suppose the operator wanted to feel the investment they were making would pay off. They may have been worried about future road improvements that might make the new M3 less attractive for the drivers.

If the alternative route was upgraded then drives might start using that instead.

Is there a maximum limit above which all income goes to the state?

RonanC said:

... How on earth could an agreement like this exist on a public road? ...

Click to expand...

It's obviously not a public road if it is tolled; classification is probably semi-public or semi-private or some other CS PPP-speak invention.