The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Queensferry Crossing bad driving targeted
TAILBACKS: Police monitor illegal behaviour of rat-runners and queue-jumpers
Drivers have been taking to the hard shoulder in a dangerous bid to avoid lengthy tailbacks approaching the Queensferry Crossing.
As the curtain rises on the Edinburgh Festival and traffic builds, motorists are being warned police are watching.
Drivers have been caught up in long queues from Halbeath to the flagship bridge during recent high profile events in the capital.
The problem has been exacerbated by lane hopping, “rat running” over slip roads and queue-skipping by using the hard shoulder.
A police spokeswoman said officers seek to patrol the bridge where possible to “advise drivers of the regulations they must adhere to” and reminded drivers they were committing an offence by using the hard shoulder.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said the £1.35 billion crossing was delivering benefits and improvements, adding: “Driver behaviour can have a positive impact to ease congestion.”
Drivers travelling to the Edinburgh Festival have been warned not to flout the rules of the road in a bid to dodge long tailbacks around the Queensferry Crossing.
Frustrated drivers have been caught up in 90-minute waits during the busy summer season, exacerbated by major events being staged in the capital.
Transport Scotland stressed the bridge is delivering the intended advantages but motorists have slammed bad driving on the Fife approach, including lane jumping and trying to skip queues by exiting and re-entering the M90 via its slip roads.
Selfish drivers are also dangerously taking to the hard shoulder to shave moments off their journeys rather than bide their time in slow moving traffic.
As the curtain rises on the festival police have warned they are watching.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Drivers are reminded they are not permitted to use the hard shoulder and are committing an offence by using this lane for anything other than an emergency, a breakdown, or when instructed to do so by a police officer.”
With nearly 80,000 vehicles using the flagship £1.35 billion bridge every day and more than 20 times it had stayed open when the Forth Road Bridge would have closed, a spokesman for Transport Scotland said it demonstrated it was delivering economic benefits.
Traffic signals have been installed to help manage flows at peak times and Police Scotland have undertaken patrols to stop drivers from using the hard shoulders to skip queues, he added.
After another day of long queues, motorist Allan Robertson from Bridge of Earn suggested all is not well.
He said: “I was travelling to Edinburgh for the Liverpool v Napoli match at Murrayfield on Sunday and left a twohour margin for error.
“We hit Halbeath at Dunfermline and the traffic just stopped and then stayed at a crawl until half way over the bridge, when normal flow resumed.
“We kept expecting to see an accident or breakdown or roadworks but there was nothing. We made it to the game with just 10 minutes to spare.
“Thankfully I don’t have to make that drive often but if people are being asked to cope with that every day, it clearly needs looked at again.”
The world-renowned Edinburgh Festival returns this weekend. The festival is a jewel in Scotland’s crown and attracts millions of big-spending visitors from across the world.
For its duration, it turns the capital into a heaving mass of culture and comedy-seeking humanity and is a boom time for pubs, restaurants, show venues and hotels.
It is also going to be a period of misery for commuters. The already-overloaded rail network will again threaten to buckle – although possibly not for passengers who are lucky enough to be on the Glasgow to Edinburgh route for whom extra provision is being made. Complaining will achieve nothing.
The roads in and around the city will also be choked with extra traffic, for which Edinburgh remains unsuited.
Those visiting for the football match between Liverpool and Napoli at Murrayfield last weekend have already experienced the major delays and congestion which will be the norm this month.
The promise of the new Queensferry Crossing has failed to alleviate the problems which existed on the old bridge – many regular travellers insist they are worse.
Poor driving accounts for some of the queues but it may be time to look again at the road layout.
Extravaganzas like the festival are to be cherished for Scotland’s good but come at the expense of those caught in the chaos as they try to go about their normal lives.