The Government should consider making any new motorways toll roads, a Whitehall-commissioned report has said.
Calling for a reform of management of England's motorways and major trunk roads, the report said the Government had "tended to put its own short-term needs ... ahead of the long-term interests of taxpayers and road users".
The new management should be more businesslike, put road users first and set targets such as reducing unnecessary delays, said the report led by Alan Cook, the current non-executive chairman of the Highways Agency.
His report said that if new motorways or trunk roads were needed, "the Department for Transport (DfT) should examine the business case for building and operating these as private toll roads in the first instance".
Commenting on this following the publication of his report, Mr Cook said: "The strategic road network is mainly complete but there will, on occasions, be the potential for a brand new motorway, and a more innovative way of funding should be looked at."
His report said the unique position of the Highways Agency (HA), which is responsible for England's motorways and major trunk roads, "had failed to reflect the wider interests of our economy", and recommended that it should be remodelled.
The report also recommended the Government should publish a long-term strategy for motorways and trunk roads within six months of its response to this report .
And within 12 months of its response, it said the Government should set out specifications for the network over five years, including levels of capacity, performance, safety and the environment.
Ministers and the DfT, it added, should focus on a distinctive new strategic role as the champion of road users, and there should be a new independent board within the Highways Agency, moving the board away from its current advisory role to align it with "commercial best practice".
At the same time, the DfT, with support from the Treasury, should set out a five-year funding package for the existing English motorway and trunk road network, it noted.