Humber tolls to rise
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by Eugene Silk • Hauliers face a sharp hike in tolls on the Humber Bridge as part of a Government deal to clear the crossing's huge debts.
Charges should rise by 25%, according to transport minister John Watts, who wants the rise in tolls to reflect inflation since the last increase in 1989. This would put the oneway toll up to £10.90 for a four-axle truck and £1.60 for a cars: figures that were fiercely opposed at a public inquiry.
Built in the high-inflation 1970s, the bridge is used by nearly six million vehicles a year including half a million LGVs. It is now making an annual operating profit of £10m, but this is wiped out by the £50m it has to pay in interest charges. The Government has plugged the gap for the past three years by freezing the debt, but local authorities have lobbied for a writeoff.
As part of the new deal the Government will write off up to half of the bridge's £435m debts. The statutory Humber Bridge Board could then clear the remainder, index-linking of tolls is seen as inevitable. "The board has recognised it has no choice but to put the tolls up," says bridgemaster Roger Evans. But "it would prefer staged increases to ease the burden on users."
Details of the deal have yet to be finalised. Watts has promised legislation enabling the write-off late in this parliamentary session or early next.
Following a public inquiry, the increases could be in effect by the summer of 1996.