Tunnel protesters make their point

Apr 7 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

ANTI-TOLL campaigners refused to accept a 10p rise in the tunnel tolls quietly by staging a protest yesterday.

About 50 people turned out over two hours at the Oakdale Road bridge, on the approach to the Wallasey tunnel.

Yesterday was the first day of a higher charging regime on the tunnels between Wirral and Liverpool.

Charges for cars and motorbikes with sidecar increased by 7.7% from £1.30 to £1.40, while small goods vehicles and small coaches (Class 2) will pay £2.80, up from £1.30.

Charges for goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and passenger vehicles (Class 3) increased from £3.90 to £4.20, and heavy goods vehicles (Class 4) pay £5.60 – a 40p rise.

John McGoldrick, of the Mersey Tunnels Users Association, said: “We had lots of support from people waving at us and honking their car horns.”

He said the protest was important because the association wanted to show Merseytravel, the body that oversees the tunnels, that the increase was not being taken lightly.

“It’s a question of what we do now.

“We have already organised another public meeting for later in the month not just to talk about the increase but about taking the toll away altogether.”

He said the meeting in Birkenhead on Friday, April 25 would also discuss the disproportionate impact the tunnels have on people living in Wirral.

“Hopefully, we can encourage more people to join in.

“We have various things in the pipeline, but I can’t really say any more at the moment.”

In previous years, the MTUA has suggested making the tolls one-way, reduced off-peak charges, no tolls for buses and toll-free Sundays and bank holidays but all these have been rejected by Merseytravel.

Their latest campaign follows plans by the Government to subsidise travel through the Dartford Tunnel on the M25 for local people there.

The latest increase in tunnel tolls will raise an additional £3.6m a year.

Merseytravel accounts show that £3.3m from the tunnel tolls is to be used to finance debt on Local Transport Plan projects.

That is allowed under the Mersey Tunnels Act passed in 2004 which allowed tolls to be raised without recourse to a public inquiry.

Merseytravel’s published accounts show the anticipated income from tolls is estimated at around £38m for the next 12 months.

Of that, £19.5m is spent on running costs and £10.7m will be used to reduce the remaining debt on the tunnels.

davidbartlett