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Scottish Cabinet backs plans for another Forth crossing
Page 18
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Green light for bridge or tunnel — but details of the route will not be
decided before the Scottish Parliament elections. Dylan Gray reports.
THE ROAD HAULAGE Association (RHA) has welcomed the Scottish Cabinet's backing of plans to build a new bridge or tunnel across the Firth of Forth.
Final decisions on funding, the route and whether a bridge or tunnel would be best are being delayed until after the Holyrood elections in three months' time.
Phil Flanders, RHA director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, says: "We welcome the backing as it will keep lorries moving. It would be good though if the politicians could just agree and get things under way."
A worst-case scenario would see trucks banned from the current bridge in 2013 due to its rapid corrosion rate. Flanders adds: "The big problem is that we won't know about the ban for sure until around 201 1 , when it will be too late. We need to get things moving."
Sir John Elvidge, head of the civil service in Scotland, is heading the project. However, he is unable to say at the moment whether the project will be completed before the closure of the current crossing.
Because of European requirements on gradients,a tunnel would cost more than a bridge.
Air-circulation equipment is being installed on the bridge's cables to slow down the effects of corrosion caused by moisture.
Kircaldy-based Wishart International had considered moving its headquarters to a site near the existing bridge, but the lack of clarity about a second crossing meant it was forced to stall making a decision (CM 14 December 2006).