New signs installed after bridge review
SIGNS with a large red capital C are to be installed this month as part of a Mersey Gateway bridge overhaul.
Merseylink said the move follows a review of signage ahead of the re-opening of the Silver Jubilee Bridge, expected early next year.
A spokesman for the consortium said visitors to London will recognise it from the city’s congestion charge signage.
He said the red C will be used on directional signage and reminders to pay tolling operator Merseyflow by midnight the day after crossing the bridge as well as being painted on the road itself in key locations.
Designs released by the project show a red circle with a white C inside.
The change also follows the deluge of complaints and controversy faced by the crossing’s operators since it opened, with much of the criticism focusing on an alleged lack of clarity and visible signage alerting motorists to the need to pay a toll.
In March, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal also found in favour of driver Damian Curzon after he filed a cunning legal chal
lenge to a fine he had received, arguing that the payment for crossing the bridge is a road charge and not a toll but that all the penalty charge notice (PCN) he received from merseyflow referred to a ‘toll’. His challenge was successful.
Merseylink’s spokesman said installing large red C signs also coincides with emerging government plans to standardise road charging signs across the country.
Some ‘occasional off-peak and short-term lane closures’ on the bridge and approach roads will take place in coming months for the works.
More than two million vehicles use the Mersey Gateway between Runcorn and Widnes each month.
Mike Bennett, Mersey Gateway Crossings board managing director, said: “There is no change at all for drivers in terms of what they pay, when they pay or how they pay – it is very much business as usual.
“We’re taking the opportunity, ahead of the re-opening of the Silver Jubilee Bridge next year, to update the scheme signage across the board.
He added: “We regularly review all aspects of the project to identify any areas where we ● can develop and improve the way we engage with drivers and this is part of that ongoing activity.”