Scottish freight haulage leaders welcome new Forth bridge
Date: 19 December 2007
Freight haulage leaders in Scotland have welcomed the expected announcement of a new road bridge to be built across the Forth, which will be good for road haulage companies.
Finance secretary John Swinney was expected to announce today (December 19th) that the bridge would be built in favour of a tunnel, which would restrict freight vehicles from taking certain kinds of loads across the Forth.
It is likely to cost between £1.5 billion and £1.7 billion, and could take more than five years to build. The current bridge may have to close to traffic, including freight haulage traffic, by 2019.
Phil Flanders of the Road Haulage Association in Scotland told the Scotsman: "We have always argued for a bridge because it means all freight can use it.
"If you have a tunnel there would be a problem with dangerous goods and the only way they could do it would be to close the tunnel to allow the dangerous goods to go through.
"Plus the cost factors - it's better to have money to do other things than spend it on a tunnel when a bridge will cost less."
However, he warned that there may be a gap between when the current bridge closes and the new one opens, meaning that freight haulage drivers carrying loads could face serious problems.
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