Ian Swanson: Questions remain on road to new Forth Road crossing

Published on Wednesday 18 November 2009 09:20

The massive project to build the new Forth bridge is gathering pace, but as Political Editor IAN SWANSON finds, so is the opposition

AN OPINION poll earlier this month found only 34 per cent support for the new Forth road bridge, while 57 per cent said the existing bridge should be repaired instead.

Latest indications also suggest the efforts to halt the corrosion of the main cables are working well.

Friends of the Earth and the Greens are among those arguing the 2 billion crossing will prove a costly mistake. But, despite that, there seems little doubt the new bridge is set to go ahead.

Politicians are simply not prepared to risk the prospect of having to shut down a vital part of the east coast road network with nothing ready to replace it.

The Scottish Government published the Bill for the new bridge yesterday, and early in the new year MSPs will start taking evidence about the proposals.

Objectors have 60 days to lodge their protests – but because the bridge has been identified by the government as a "national development", they cannot object to the principle of the bridge, only the details of what is planned.

Nevertheless, there are big questions still to be answered about the project, described by ministers as the most significant Scottish transport infrastructure scheme for a generation.

Firstly, there's the cost. Early estimates for a new crossing put the price as high as 4bn. But when the government unveiled its plans in December last year, it had effectively halved the cost.

This was achieved by cutting the number of lanes in each direction from three to two and designating the existing bridge for public transport use rather than incorporating provision for bus lanes or trams into the new crossing.

There were also changes to the proposed link roads, creating concerns among people living near the bridge in South Queensferry, while a planned direct link to the M9, bypassing Newton village, was dropped, leaving residents there worried about an increase in traffic.

However, even after the cost-cutting, the bill remains massive. A recent study found the average cost of major road bridges around the world was less than 200,000 a metre. The new bridge will work out at about 750,000 a metre.

In addition, only two bidders will compete for the contract instead of the three which the government expected.

Edinburgh West Liberal Democrat MSP Margaret Smith, whose constituency includes South Queensferry, says: "I am concerned we are going to pay far too much in comparison with elsewhere. It's as if they looked at the cost of other bridges, doubled it and added a bit. Then we are going to have only two consortia bidding for something which already has an inflated budget. We're going to end up with a very expensive project."

Then there's the question of how the bridge is going to be paid for. The Scottish Government pressed the UK Treasury to be allowed to bring forward capital spending from future years to spread the cost, but that has so far been refused, leaving ministers pledging to finance the project from each year's capital budget and putting other transport projects at risk.

Questions also surround the decision to abandon any "multi-modal" element in the new crossing.

City transport leader Gordon Mackenzie says the new crossing will have no more capacity than the current one, so will end up with the same congestion unless there are public transport improvements.

He wants to see more park-and-ride provision on the Fife side of the bridge, as well as extra train services and possibly a ferry or hovercraft across the Forth.

He fears that without that, there could be irresistible pressure to reopen the existing bridge to cars. He says: "Motorists will be sitting in queues on the new bridge looking over to the old one with one bus going across every couple of minutes.

"But if you end up, after a couple of years, effectively doubling the capacity for cars, that would have an enormous impact on the road infrastructure in the west of the city.

If it's not properly planned for it will cause very serious problems."

Labour transport spokesman, Charlie Gordon, points out the 2bn price includes extensive road links, but he says: "I would still take a bit of convincing the project could not be delivered for less."

Tory transport spokesman Alex Johnstone says there is a history of projects in Scotland being deliberately priced low and ending up costing much more, such as the Scottish Parliament building.

He says: "Some of the initial options had costs of up to 4bn, but they have now gone for a much more affordable solution. We need to pin that price down and make sure it doesn't get out of hand."