Could this be a bridge too far?

THE SNP manifesto includes the statement: “We will explore the potential to build ... a bridge from

Gourock to Dunoon.” Is this the most ridiculous commitment in a manifesto for the gullible?

The width of the crossing of the Clyde at this point is similar to the Forth at Queensferry.

Any crossing of the Firth of Clyde would need to allow clearance for large ships. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that the cost of a bridge would not be less than the £1.35 billion cost of the Queensferry Crossing. Additional costs would be incurred beyond that for road connections with the bridge.

A few minutes using Google Maps allows assessment of potential savings in distances and travel times that such a bridge would offer.

This indicates that for traffic originating from the Fort William area, there is no benefit, irrespective of destination.

From Oban and the Kintyre peninsula there is no benefit if the destination is Glasgow or Ayr, but a saving of around 20 to 25 minutes if the final destination of the journey is Greenock – which, I would suggest, would account for an insignificant proportion of journeys.

For Dunoon and the Cowal peninsula, the bridge would typically offer a saving of just over 30 minutes compared to the current ferry service and, to Glasgow, a saving of around an hour compared to driving via Arrochar.

The total population of the Cowal peninsula is around 15,000.

The existing ferry service, operated by Western Ferries, at peak operates a 15-minute service in both directions with vessels that carry 40 cars.

This equates to an hourly peak of 320 journeys. This is a very small traffic flow.

By comparison, Transport Scotland published data between March and May 2019 showing that the hourly peak across the Queensferry Crossing was in excess of 6,000 journeys.

Even allowing for the bridge generating economic growth, it is obvious that a benefit-to-cost analysis will not justify such investment.

The figures are so stark that I would suggest that even expenditure on a feasibility study would amount to wasteful misuse of public funds.

George Rennie, Inverness.