Warning of £3 tolls as drivers fork out for new Forth bridge

A senior member of the Forth Estuary Transport Authority, the transport body which operates the Forth Road Bridge, today admitted that drivers may be forced to pay 3 to cross the existing Forth Road Bridge, almost four times the current 80p toll, to help fund the new crossing.

Feta yesterday made the shock decision to press ahead with the controversial proposal, which will cost more than 640 million to design and build. A business plan will shortly be presented to the Scottish Executive, even though the Transport Minister today said the Executive currently has no plans to build a new bridge.

Fife councillor Antony Martin, who successfully led the call for a new crossing, confirmed that Feta will ask ministers to fund the bridge, but admitted he was not hopeful of persuading the Executive to fork out the cash.

Mr Martin said: "There has to be some sort of funding from the Scottish Executive, but the rest will have to be raised through toll revenue. You may find that drivers crossing at midnight will pay just 1, while sole drivers during peak hours could pay up to 3.

"I don’t know why the councillors from Edinburgh are so frightened of giving an undertaking to a new bridge. The existing Forth Road Bridge is 40 years old and it is under immense stress - we have to be pragmatic."

The move for a new bridge was opposed by every Edinburgh councillor at yesterday’s heated meeting and a vote on the proposals was tied between the ten politicians present, with chairman and Fife councillor Mike Rumney making the deciding vote. He said today: "We had to be realistic because we are entering uncharted territory with the existing bridge - it needs so much repair work and traffic is increasing 3.5 per cent year-on-year."

Feta chief executive Douglas Sinclair added: "The board took the decision that nothing would be gained by delaying making this commitment."

Designs for the new bridge are likely to outline a crossing from the west of South Queensferry to land between Rosyth docks and North Queensferry. It would also be shielded to prevent closures on the bridge during strong winds.

Edinburgh transport chief Andrew Burns today said he was "bemused" by the Feta decision, which comes just two months before chairmanship of the authority is handed over to councillors from the Capital.

"It is pretty incredible that we rejected the draft local transport strategy which was drawn up over months by the Feta chief executive and his officials," he said.

"Edinburgh never ruled out a second bridge, but we needed to get the public transport improvements in place first.

"The Fife councillors who voted for a new crossing need to be asked how they propose paying for this."

An Executive spokeswoman said: "We have no current plans to build another crossing on the Forth."

Yesterday’s move was welcomed by AA policy chief Neil Greig, who said the decision was "inevitable".

However, conservation groups have condemned the plans. Cockburn Association director David McDonald said: "Feta has all of civic Scotland against them."

Your say

Ross Trusslove, 27, civil servant, Oxford Street: "Speaking as someone who has had to commute to and from Fife, I think it’s a fantastic idea. And although it’s expensive, it will be there for 60 or 70 years or so."

Kay Jackson, 45, podiatrist, Bonaly Road: "I don’t think there should be a second bridge, for environmental and cost reasons. I think the money could be better spent elsewhere."

George Pitcher, 76, retired printer, Pleasance: "I have always thought that the idea of another road bridge across the Forth was a nonsense. It’s how the traffic is managed on either side of the bridge that will reduce the problems."