Tunnels tolls could be set to go up for some
THE cost of crossing through the Mersey Tunnels is set to go up – for some people at least.
This week, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is expected to approve a recommendation to increase the price of the cash toll for a single journey through the Kingsway and Queensway tunnels by 10 pence, from £2 to £2.10.
It is also proposed that a 10p increase will be added for people living outside the Liverpool City Region who have a T Flow account, taking their fee for crossing the river up to £2.10.
There is better news for anyone living in the Liverpool City Region with a T-Flow account. Their tolls will be frozen at the current price of £1.40.
Combined authority bosses say the increase in fees is required to help manage inflationary pressures and the high cost of energy – with any surplus generated by the Mersey Tunnels invested back into supporting transport in the region.
But the proposed increase in tolls is likely to reignite a regular debate that occurs in this region as to whether anyone should still be paying to cross the Mersey at all.
Campaign groups like Scrap Mersey Tolls certainly don’t think so.
Group leader John McGoldrick believes the tolls should be abolished, claiming that the Combined Authority makes “vast profits” from the tolls.
He also argued that the tolls cause congestion and discourage people from travelling from Liverpool to Wirral.
The CA says the maintenance and upkeep of the tunnels is reliant on tolls and insists that any profits made go directly back into supporting transport in the city region.