Thousands more cross bridge as lower tolls boost economy

BUSINESS leaders have welcomed the impact of lower Humber Bridge tolls after a dramatic surge in the number of vehicles using the iconic river crossing since new charges were introduced.

Campaigners for lower tolls have long argued that the fee was stifling the economy, and that case now appears to be bearing fruit with thousands of motorists taking advantage of a new pricing regime that came into effect on April 1, when the cost of a single car journey was halved to £1.50.

Figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post show there were 486,654 crossings in April, a 22,250 rise on the same month last year, with particularly large spikes over the last fortnight of the month.

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Although the number of motorcycle and van journeys fell, increases in car and lorry traffic contributed to a major rise in crossings overall.

A total of 124,342 vehicles crossed the bridge in the last week of April – a 16.2 per cent increase on the same week in 2011 – while the 125,900 journeys the previous week represented an 8.1 per cent rise on April last year.

The number of car journeys rose by 11,016 in the third week of April, and by 17,905 in the last week of the month compared with the corresponding periods in 2011.

It is now hoped the figures will translate into a much needed economic boost on both banks of the Humber.

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Ian Kelly, chief executive of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, said: “The chamber lobbied hard for this along with MPs and we got exactly what we wanted, a £1.50 toll, and we want to see that continue for the long term and not just to 2015. It’s part of the long-term issue to strengthen the economy around the Humber but we are absolutely delighted that the early indications are that it is helping to generate activity and trade across the river.”

Hull’s premier visitor attraction The Deep registered an almost instant impact, with a 30 per cent rise in the number of visitors from the DN postcode area, immediately south of the bridge, on April 2 compared with a comparable day last year. It also recorded its busiest Easter Monday for seven years, welcoming more than 4,000 visitors, although it did not attribute this directly to the tolls.

Deep chief executive Colin Brown said he had not expected the reduced tolls to have much of an impact, so was pleasantly surprised by the figures.

“In the 42 days since the Humber Bridge tolls went down there’s only two days when we have failed to reach our daily target,” he said. “A lot of that is down to the weather, but anecdotally we have got a lot of staff saying we are noticing more people from Lincolnshire coming in.

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“We have started to notice something was going on and the figures we have got seem to back up the anecdotal evidence. Yes, we are getting considerably more visitors from Lincolnshire than we used to.

“I was sceptical that it would make much difference with the price of petrol the way it was and we think we are pretty good value anyway, a couple of pounds would not make much difference, but it seems it is having an effect.

“It’s not the sort of change that is going to change our business model and suddenly mean The Deep is making hundreds of thousands of pounds, but in a recession, to have something that makes a positive difference, we can’t knock it.”

Coun Jane Evison, East Riding Council portfolio holder for economic development, tourism and rural issues, also welcomed the figures and said the East Riding was becoming increasingly attractive to visitors.

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She said: “It’s exactly what we expected to happen and certainly doesn’t surprise me. When that barrier of cost is removed people will quite naturally want to go and visit somewhere that’s different. Certainly in the East Riding we have had a lot of media attention around the Wolds area and I would expect an increase in numbers from that.

“Tourism, I would say, is about the only industry where there’s clearly room for development and we really welcome anything that helps us achieve greater numbers.”