'How do they plan to pay for a new bridge?'

Published on Tuesday 12 February 2008 08:33

TOLL-FREE ROADS

YESTERDAY was not only a significant milestone in the life of the Forth Road Bridge but a major turning point for motorists in Scotland.

For the first time in over 40 years, drivers will have the run of the roads in a toll-free Scotland. But while the SNP revelled in delivering its pre-election pledge, there is growing concern in some sectors as to what the likely effects of ending the charges will be.

Election pledges should be kept but, to some, it will seem surprising that at a time when substantial investment is required to both maintain the present stressed structure and to provide another road crossing over the Forth that the SNP has chosen now to scrap tolls.

While the decision may provide instant relief of some 200 a year for those that commute daily between Fife and Edinburgh, the millions of pounds required for the upkeep and any remedial works required will now have to be met fully out of the public purse.

The bridge, which opened in 1964, is already carrying double the number of vehicles it was designed for and its main cables have lost ten per cent of their strength. If the deterioration cannot be halted, projections point towards it closing to heavy goods vehicles by 2013.

But if it can be saved – at an estimated cost of 100 million to replace the cables – a substantial part of that could well have been gathered in on tolls over the coming years.

Scrapping the tolls also flies in the face of "green" schemes – like the highly successful Ferrytoll park and ride scheme. Allowing drivers to cross for free is hardly likely to encourage greater usage of public transport which Finance Secretary John Swinney claims he is keen to promote. It seems indeed to be a strange way of going about it.

Perhaps more worryingly for Edinburgh, the scrapping of charges may substantially increase the volume of traffic already filtering towards the city. Some experts have predicted that the increase could be as high as 20 per cent.

If that is true, the extra burden is hardly going to help preserve the apparently already limited lifespan of the structure. Despite improved road links for onward traffic, it is hardly likely to ease congestion around the bridge itself, especially at peak commuter times.

But the most interesting question for the SNP is how do they propose to pay for a new bridge at a cost of around 4 billion? As, presumably, to be consistent, they would have no choice other than to make it toll free.