IT WAS the Christmas present Fife had hoped for and traffic was running well yesterday after the early morning reopening of the Forth Road Bridge, after initial repairs were completed 10 days ahead of schedule.
Cars were allowed to cross the bridge connecting Edinburgh and Fife from 6am, although HGVs will not be allowed to use it until permanent repair work has been completed – hopefully within six weeks.
Ministers had to close the 51-year-old crossing to all traffic on December 4 after a crack was found in a truss-end link during a routine inspection. It was expected it would be closed until the New Year, but a steel splint has been put in to repair the damaged part. Similar splints will be installed at the other seven truss-end links as a precautionary measure, but Transport Scotland said that can be done safely while the bridge is open.
An estimated 70,000 vehicles use the bridge every day and its closure caused significant disruption to commuters and businesses.
Trains and buses across the Forth were crowded, while cars were diverted over the Kincardine Bridge, adding hours to journeys. At one stage there was an 11-mile queue of traffic heading for Kincardine.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: “I am very certain that we’ll meet that date of mid-February for the bridge to be open to HGVs.”
Transport Scotland said traffic was lighter than usual yesterday, due to the Christmas holidays.
Stein Connelly, Traffic Scotland contract manager, added: “We would advise anyone wishing to make a festive getaway to plan their journeys in advance using the Traffic Scotland website, following them on Twitter and by listening to live radio updates once they are on the move.”
The reopening came as a courier boss said removing tolls on the bridge in 2008 was a disaster waiting to happen. Jerry Stewart, a director at Eagle Couriers, said scrapping the tolls “directly created the problems” that resulted in the forced closure.
He said: “It is plainly obvious that the removal of the bridge toll in 2008 was a disaster. For starters it encouraged a boom in traffic, far exceeding the levels that the bridge was designed to cope with. We could have instead encouraged a more sustainable level of traffic and even implemented a levy for the heaviest vehicles.”
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