The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Petition calls for more time to explore bridge
More than 250,000 people applied for just 50,000 places on tour
Thousands who were unsuccessful in a ballot giving 50,000 people the chance to walk across the new Queensferry Crossing should still be afforded the opportunity.
That’s the view of campaigners behind a new petition.
Emails have been sent to the 50,000 people selected confirming their spot on the Queensferry Crossing Experience on September 2 and 3, although it is understood more than 176,000 people have been left disappointed.
Describing the ballot process as “inefficient”, Christine Dewar, of Markinch, who has started the online petition, said she believed the open period should be extended to give everybody in the neighbouring communities the chance to see the £1.35 billion structure up close.
While the majority of those who took part in the ballot process hailed from communities neighbouring the Forth, more than 5,000 people from elsewhere in the UK also took part, with 437 entries received from overseas.
The online petition calling for the open period to be extended has been launched on change.org and was fast attracting signatures yesterday.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “It is important to strike a balance between providing access for this special opportunity, delivering the new bridge for its originally intended purpose and managing the potential impact on local communities and infrastructure by holding an event which brings large numbers of people to the surrounding area.
“This resulted in the decision to hold the Queensferry Crossing Experience over a single weekend when buses and park and ride transport hubs are less busy to minimise the impact on both the trunk road network and the local roads around the project in a coordinated way.
“The number of people who can be safely and securely accommodated over two days has been carefully considered to ensure that everyone who takes part can do so in a safe way, while allowing people to have the most enjoyable experience of the Queensferry Crossing possible.”
He added: “The project has worked closely with the community councils of North Queensferry, Inverkeithing, Rosyth, South Queensferry, Newton and Kirkliston and will continue to work with them to ensure that in addition to having an opportunity to enter the ballot, many local school pupils, community groups and members of local communities have the opportunity to take part in the opening celebrations, including the Queensferry Crossing Experience.”