Scrap bridge tolls demand

WARRINGTON Borough Council is to be asked to call on the Government to scrap its proposals for tolls on the Mersey Gateway bridge when it is built.
A motion to be put to a full meeting of the council next Monday (September 8) expresses alarm at the prospect of a four per cent increase traffic through Warrington if the tolls are implemented.
The motion is being put by Coun Jo Crotty (pictured), the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Warrington South and seconded by Coun Kevin Reynolds from Whittle Hall.
The motion welcomes the proposed new crossing of the Mersey at Halton because of the potential for improving the economy of Warrington and the wider North West region.
But it notes with “great concern” the projections from a computer traffic model that shows a decrease in traffic crossing the river at Halton because of the tolls.
It endorses a decision of Warrington’s executive board to press for mitigation measures to counter the impact of a four per cent increase in Warrington based on the “most likely” toll level.
And it calls on the Government to look again at its financing of this project by removing the need for tolls, so enabling the full economic benefits of the bridge to be realised.