‘KEEP THE CROSSING TOLLS’ CALL
AN Assembly Member has said he wants to keep the Severn Crossing tolls – as he believes scrapping them will invite “chaos” to parts of Wales.
The tolls on both Severn crossings will end in less than two months’ time. They have been in place for more than 50 years, having been in operation since the original Severn Bridge opened in 1966.
Despite the abolition of the toll charges being welcomed in Wales with every party in the National Assembly backing the plans in a vote two years ago – Llanelli AM Lee Waters has said the decision to bring more traffic and congestion into Wales is “madness”.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, Mr Waters said: “Of course it sounds good to have free tolls, to save money on the bridge. I drive across the bridge - that sounds lovely.
“It sounds nice to have a nice new road so you can freely drive into work, stress-free, but that’s not what’s going to happen. It’s going to get congested. I’m saying we should reduce the tolls, but keep a level of tolls and use that money to generate borrowing to build an alternative - let’s build a full-on metro system, let’s build public transport right across the south wales corridor
“The tolls coming off are going to increase the amount of traffic by at least a quarter, up to 40%, and it’s going to be chaos.
“So we’ll have more chaos and all the money will be gone, and in the meantime we’re locking in a huge amount of extra carbon.”
The tolls on both Severn crossings will end on December 17, and the UK Government claims this will lead to a £1bn boost to the Welsh economy.
This is based on a study that says around six million more cars would travel westbound over the crossings each year – a total of more than 24 millions cars per year.
But Mr Waters thinks the UK Government is “using the tolls” to try to make sure the Welsh Government presses ahead with plans to build the M4 Relief Road – a brand new stretch of motorway circumnavigating Newport to the south.
Mr Waters said: “It’s clear from this the UK government are using the Severn Bridge tolls to try and force the Welsh Government’s hand to build a new motorway.
“First they tried to bribe us with borrowing powers if only we used it on a new road, now they admit ‘the effect of removing the tolls would act to hasten the requirement for upgrades to the network’.
“In all their modelling they assume that a new motorway will be built, but even if it does go ahead it won’t be open for five years and in the meantime they are unleashing extra traffic onto already congested roads.”
The Welsh Government says a joint report, carried out in conjunction with Highways England, will be published shortly and will look at the effect of the removal of both Severn crossing tolls.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “The prime minister and Secretary of State for Wales are committed to scrapping tolls on the Prince of Wales Bridge and Severn Crossing in a matter of weeks, strengthening south Wales’ economic potential and connecting communities on both sides of the border.”
A analysis carried out by the UK Government – which assumes that the M4 Relief Road will be built by 2022 - admits that “removing the tolls would result in higher overall levels of traffic and congestion”, before adding that “the effect of removing the tolls would act to hasten the requirement for upgrades to the network in the vicinity of the crossings, rather than to create additional congestion issues that would not otherwise have occurred.”