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Tuesday, 24th November 2009

Majority of Scots reject plan for Forth crossing

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Published Date: 08 November 2009
By Eddie Barnes
Political Editor
NEARLY twice as many Scots would prefer the government to repair the existing Forth Road Bridge rather than build an entirely new structure.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Green party has found that 57 per cent of people wanted to repair the road crossing, compared with just 34 per cent who believe it should be replaced.

The survey comes as Scottish ministers prepare to introd
uce legislation to build a completely new crossing over the Forth, following surveys which showed the existing bridge was so weakened that traffic would soon have to be limited.

Faced with such evidence, ministers have said that doing nothing "was not an option". A new bridge, costing up to £2.3 billion, will be constructed, after which the existing crossing will remain open for public transport and bicycles.

Under government plans, the new bridge will be open by 2016. The Greens argue that for as little as £100 million the crossing could be repaired and maintained. Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: "

Greens believe we do need a road crossing over the Forth, and there already is one. There's still time for Scottish ministers to listen to public opinion and fix the existing bridge for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the disruption."

Lawrence Marshall, a former chair of the Forth Estuary Transport Authority, claimed MSPs had supported the scheme for a new bridge "in a bit of a panic" without properly considering the possibility of fixing the existing crossing.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "This is a misleading finding, because we are building a replacement crossing as well as utilising the existing bridge so that it can become a dedicated public transport corridor, which will be positive for the environment."





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  • Last Updated: 07 November 2009 9:30 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
 
1

BraveLungs,

08/11/2009 00:44:31
In all the furore this week about the Westminster government ignoring it's scientists' advice, this is one occasion when I definitely hope a government listens to it's scientists and ignores the supposed 'popular will'.
2

CRAGman,

08/11/2009 01:41:44
Even if the work to dry out the main cables of the existing bridge is unsuccessful - and it's looking OK so far - then re-cabling the bridge can be achieved at a capital cost of just over £100 million.

Retaining less than 0.75% of the traffic on the existing bridge will make it the most expensive bus lane in the world - and the truth is it will soon be re-opened to general traffic so that we'll have doubled the amount of traffic that can cross the Forth at Queensferry. Then "Brave Lungs" will need iron lungs.

Doubling road capacity at the huge cost of £2300 million (at least) goes against all the engineering and traffic advice - and will mean lots of other more worthwhile projects for schools, hospitals, etc. being cancelled across Scotland to pay for it. It's crazy and unfair and MSPs too are gradually realising the folly of their previous belief that, as Mrs Thatcher once said, there is no alternative. There is - repair the existing bridge.
3

Evidenced Based Thinking Please,

08/11/2009 02:44:05
"Majority of Scots"?

I don't think so. Was anyone here asked? Were you? A poll of 573 people in Sauchiehall Street does not constitute a "majority of Scots".

Who writes this tosh?
4

gus1940,

Edinburgh 08/11/2009 06:52:21
If the bridge needs to be re-cabled where pray will the traffic go while this work is carried out?
5

D Napier,

08/11/2009 07:33:44
#4. Exactly. Reports commissioned by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority show that cable augmentation or replacement will result in half of the bridge being closed for a number of years.

Even if the existing bridge is "repaired" there is still the problem that it does not have the capacity to carry the traffic which is trying to cross tyhe Forth on a daily basis. Just look at the queues on the A90 and M9 Spur every evening.
6

Hmm ...,

08/11/2009 08:05:26
The vast majority of Scots do not support the Green Party, which commissioned this "survey" - as can be seen in the Scottish Parliament!

I am heartily sick of the Green loony left who want to dismantle our economy, for which good transport links are a major requirement. We do need a second crossing and we need it now - the previous project was blocked by the Forth Alliance, made up of The National Trust of Scotland, RSPB, WWF and the other usual suspects.

We were better able to give the Greens their due attention when they wore sandwich boards saying "we are all doomed" - the message has not changed but the internet has given them an audience they don't deserve.
7

mr broon,

Edinburgh 08/11/2009 09:28:51
What happens IF the Scottish Government fails to build the new crossing, and in a few years time the Forth Bridge is closed completely to all traffic?
8

lulach mac gille coemgain,

08/11/2009 10:45:07
Too late! - there is massive ground clearance works (in advance) underway already - just take a trip around Winchburgh and the Niddrie Castle West Lothian area and around Newliston Estate to view this
9

Orlando,

08/11/2009 11:27:01
Time to look again at the tunnel option. No bad weather closures and no having to replace it every 40 years.
10

Mcsnagpile,

08/11/2009 12:48:43
We should build two more bridges and call them the four bridges or the last one the fourth bridge--or would it be three and a half.
11

Kirsty Boyd-Williamson,

Salisbury 08/11/2009 13:34:22
No.10 : Mcsnagpile

Your common sense shines out like a beacon in the darkness, especially if the estuary were to be renamed the Firth of Fourth or even the Firth of Fifth if you include the crossing at Kincardine.
12

rpb,

08/11/2009 18:55:06
wot a stupid survey. if there was a survey done in the central belt about whether Aberdeen should get a bypass road, or should the money be spent on say, a rail link to glasgow airport, i wonder what the outcome might be?
13

Not available,

Edinburgh 08/11/2009 20:03:47
#6 I entirely agree with you. The poll doies not say how many were surveyed.
14

Julian.,

edinburgh 08/11/2009 23:51:38
#13,

The survey was just over a thousand people...from yesterday's EEN.

 

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