More time for centre
● A TEMPORARY walk-in centre in Widnes to register in person for the Mersey Gateway will now operate until the end of next month.
The Halton Direct Link on Brook Street has acted as a place for motorists in the town to sign up to the Merseyflow tolls system.
The facility was originally planned to only be in operation until the end of August when the registration service launched in mid-July.
But with the announcement the Mersey Gateway Bridge could now open as soon as within the next few weeks, the service will now be offered at the Brook Street facility until the end of September.
The opening hours are between 9am and 5.30pm from Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturday.
The quietest time at the Widnes centre is from 4.30pm to 5.30pm on weekdays.
When the new crossing opens the Silver Jubilee Bridge will be closed to road traffic for up to 12 months while it is refurbished and potentially reduced to a single lane of road traffic in each direction with increased space for pedestrians and cyclists.
During the refurbishment, the Silver Jubilee Bridge will remain open both to pedestrians and cyclists.
Before the Widnes centre’s operation was extended, Halton Borough Council chief executive David Parr said in July when the registration service launched the initial six-week period was the time when it was thought ‘most people’ would need to use a face-to-face facility.
Mr Parr said: “Once everything is up and running, we don’t think that will be necessary because it would be inefficient to have two sites operating.
“The more inefficiency we build into this, the more it costs and that has an impact on the tolls.
“We’re trying to create a toll regime that’s fair, that pays for the bills, but also ensures people are not being charged too much for the new infrastructure that they’re getting.
“We’ll keep that under review and if we find out that it’s a problem and people don’t want to use the website, then we may have to revisit that.”
A permanent walk-in centre in the borough is located at Howard Court in Manor Park, Runcorn.