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Green alliance to block plans for new Forth road bridge
Page 14
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Delays of up to three-quarters of an hour on existing bridge lead business and haulage leaders to support proposal for new crossing. Guy Sheppard reports.
AN ALLIANCE OF green pressure groups aims to scupper proposals for a new road bridge across the river Forth in Scotland for the second time in 10 years.
Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) revived the plan because the existing bridge near Edinburgh now carries 24 million vehicles a year, compared with four million when it opened 40 years ago.
The £350m-plus investment in a new bridge is supported by business and haulage leaders.
Phil Flanders, regional director of the Road Haulage Association. says: "The existing bridge is not quite as had as the Dartford Crossing, but at certain times of the day you can be waiting up to threequarters of an hour to go across. It's important for the economy of Scotland and the east coast to have a proper road infrastructure."
Andrew Black, director of Andrew Black Haulage & Storage near Edinburgh, says at least a quarter of his 23-strong fleet of trucks crosses the bridge every day.
"At the moment the bridge quite simply can't cope with the volume of traffic," he warns. "This is going to escalate over the years."
But the ForthRight Alliance, which comprises heritage, wildlife and environmental groups. is mobilising opposition during the public consultation period, which ends on 30 September.
Transform Scotland ,a group that promotes "sustainable transport", says FETA failed to implement many of the proposals promised to alleviate congestion when the bridge scheme was first scrapped 10 years ago. Spokesman Cohn Howden says:"If you can get some of the cars off the bridge there'll be more space for trucks — 70% of the cars have a single occupant."