Toll operators meet minister
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A STRONG case for Government assistance to operators of public tolled bridges and tunnels was presented to Transport Minister, William Rodgers, this week.
The meeting arranged by the consortium for major authorities, is made more critical because of the recent report of the MPs' "watchdog" Public Accounts Committee which criticised the financing of tolled river crossings.
Consortium members — Merseyside and Tyne and Wear County Councils, Dartford Tunnel Joint Committee (acting on behalf of Kent and Essex County Councils) and Humber Bridge Board — are all facing financial difficulties with their crossings, caused mainly by inflation, high interest rates and poor traffic flows.
Members will present evidence of serious inconsistencies in Government policy, under which only a minority of estuarial crossings are tolled. The consortium will press for Government aid not to allow tolls to be abolished but merely kept to reasonable levels in future.
Members recognise their obligations under legislation but believe the Government should now recognise the importance of their tolled estuarial crossings as part of the national road network and review its "user must pay" policy.
Merseyside County Council is taking steps to implement a 20 per cent increase in Mersey Tunnel tolls early next year. Objections to the plan have to be with transport secretary Mr Rodgers by the end of September.
Then a public inquiry is likely to be held in Liverpool.