Cost of axing Scotland's road bridge tolls put at £42 million

ABOLITION of bridge tolls in Scotland would cost at least £42 million, The Scotsman has learned.

Tolls have been removed from the Skye and Erskine bridges, and legislation to lift those on the Forth and Tay is due to be passed by the end of the year.

Paying off the remaining construction debt on the Skye and Tay bridges accounts for the lion's share of the cost.

However, removal of parts of the new 5 million Forth Road Bridge toll plaza, which has been in use for less than a year, may cost another 2 million.

And the 42 million cost does not take into account the loss of 20 million a year in toll revenue, which is used for ongoing maintenance of the crossings.

Tolls on the Skye Bridge, which links the island to the mainland, were abolished by the previous, Labour-Lib Dem-run Scottish Executive in December 2004. It also scrapped tolls on the Erskine, over the Clyde, in March 2006.

The current Scottish National Party-controlled Executive has pledged to abolish charges on the remaining two toll bridges, which was supported by all the parties, except the Greens, in a Holyrood vote in May.

However, The Scotsman revealed last month that an unpublished Executive-commissioned report warns that congestion on the Forth Road Bridge would increase significantly without tolls.

Ministers are due to announce legislation for the move when Parliament resumes in September and this is expected to be passed by the end of the year.

The total cost of tolls abolition includes 27 million paid by the Executive to the Bank of America to buy out the consortium it led, which built and operated the Skye Bridge since it opened in 1995.

The Tay Road Bridge has 13 million of remaining debt, while that for the two other bridges has been paid off.

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA), which runs the Forth Road Bridge, has advertised a contract worth an estimated 1.5-2 million for removing its new toll booths and traffic islands, and realigning the road layout.

This includes narrowing the northbound approaches from the A90 and the Echline roundabout when a new link road from the M9 is completed this year. The toll plaza's illuminated canopy may be retained for traffic signals.

The Executive's Transport Scotland agency said nearly 129,000 had been spent on removing toll booths from the Erskine Bridge. The Tay Road Bridge Joint Board said discussions were continuing over the cost of removing its booths. No figure for this cost for the Skye Bridge was available yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Executive said the remaining bridge tolls were being removed in the interests of equity.

She said: "On 31 May, the Scottish Parliament voted, on a cross-party basis, for tolls to be removed, as it is unfair that only Fife and Tayside are subject to road tolls in Scotland.

"This government is acting on the will of parliament. Tolls will be removed from both bridges by the end of this year."