We’re now celebrating over 700 years of Hull Fair, including white-knuckle rides, side stalls and not forgetting the biggest ride of them all…? Those scary looking tea-cups, designed for small children (although you often catch the parents on them too!)

It no doubt frustrates the neighbouring residents as they watch the cars pile in to park up as near as possible though. Don’t forget the Park & Ride to Hull Fair or other buses to the Walton Street site if you’re looking for that hassle free evening or want to avoid candy-floss in your car…

Enjoy!

Back in November I contemplated plans to incorporate a train station stop near the KC. At the time, I fell into the “not sure it would work” camp, which as it turns out, was the right side of the fence to fall.

Latest reports suggest that “hopes of developing a new rail halt next to the KC Stadium in Hull look certain to be dashed”, so it’s a good job I never got worked up about it anyway. The obvious reasons have been quoted – “little prospect of attracting funding”, “not a priority”, “over 5m costs to develop”, “running costs”, oh, and “technical problems.”

But let’s not forget the potential bigger problem? Good rugby crowds may be one thing, but is it justified for Championship football??? Ouch

Two big events are being lined up:

The first is a protest march cross the Bridge tomorrow, organised by Humber Action Against Tolls, which starts at 9.30am on Saturday 28^th February. (I always love walking across the bridge, but once my dog got freaked out by making the mistake of looking down through a small hole and she saw the water swirling below – I wouldn’t recommend it.)

The second is a public inquiry meeting, which starts at 10am on Tuesday 3^rd March at Willerby Manor. This is a meeting, chaired by an independent planning inspector, to decide whether to approve the proposed toll increase (which would mean a rise from the current £2.70 for a car to £2.90).

Campaigners are calling on protestors to descend in great numbers for the walk, as well as for the public meeting, to make their views clear to the planning inspector. We seem to be drifting between no tolls, £1 tolls and now a whopping £2.90. Here’s hoping it’s not the latter…

Latest reports suggest that work might not start for another five years, so that’s more endless queues and frustration to look forward to.

Earlier options that were on the cards are being thrown out because of escalating costs so the latest thinking is a new flyover above the Mytongate junction, or lowering the road beneath it. Either way, the Council say we’re looking at 2013 at the earliest to start the work.

Watch out for the public consultation in the New Year about the plans. I’m tempted to say we need to get it sorted asap, but we may as well get it right whilst we’re at it. Already five years behind, there is little point wasting the next 25 complaining bitterly that it didn’t even help ease the problem.

Anyway, here’s hoping that 2009 isn’t dominated by sitting in traffic – Happy New Year to you all!

Football Fans’ Decibels

I wasn’t even at the game against Man City on Saturday, but I could certainly hear the “Come on you Hull” chants, and as I drove past at the end of the game the general banter continued as the fans poured out of the stadium.

Admittedly, it wasn’t my greatest moment in terms of timing as I tried to navigate my car through everyone, crawling along because people were randomly crossing the road without even glancing my way. But it got me thinking about the plans to incorporate a train station stop near the KC and whether it would ease the post-game congestion deadlock.

A couple of blogs have also offered their opinion, but I’m in two minds. Would it work? Would people actually use it? It’s bad enough getting on and off busy trains at the best of times. At least bus stops have a “queue from here” philosophy whereas trains just tend to encourage people to pile in with little regard for the old lady/small child they happen to squash.

I think, as I’m writing this, I’m probably in the “no thanks, not a good idea” camp.

A report by the ICE (Institute of Civil Engineers) states that Yorkshire and Humberside receive the lowest transport funding than any other region in the UK.

In fact, we have £200 spent per head on us, compared to £600 on average down South.

This surely means that any plans to improve the network are never even going to see the light of day because of the unfair funding allocation?

This even follows numerous findings that Yorkshire and Humber host plenty of Britain’s most dangerous roads, including our very own A1079 from Market Weighton to Hull. I’m not convinced speed cameras are the way forward either, but that’s a blog for another day…

It turns out that scrapping the tolls would benefit the local economy by £1.1bn over the next 25 years, with the report listing improvements to the region if the tolls were abolished or even reduced to £1.

More to the point, it claims that Hull could gain a further £45m in retail opportunities, as it seems all those on the South Bank would prefer to go on a shopping spree on a trip to Lincoln or Meadowhall than venture across the bridge.

I’m not entirely convinced that the cost of crossing the Bridge is the reason for stopping people coming across to shop, but either way, reducing the tolls would certainly help both sides of the bank.

No doubt this will get thrown around in Parliament, yet again, but to help the cause, you can sign the Hull Daily Mail’s petition, A Toll Too Far, here.

The benefits of the Humber Bridge for transport in the region are undeniable but have the bridge tolls ever affected your decision to use the bridge? Or even prevented you from taking jobs across the River?

We face one of the highest tolls in the UK, £2.70 for a single car crossing, and the Humber Bridge Board has construction costs debt of over £330M.

Although it’s anticipated that the costs will be paid off by 2032, there have been so many calls over the years for the Government to write off the debt.

(You can read their response here, but to save you time, it’s a “no”)

So, in the meantime, the drum beats on and this latest survey should give us all yet again another indication of whether we think the tolls deter investment in the area.

I can’t help but think it must do, but I’m also very aware that it’s not just businesses who are affected. Let’s not forget that the tolls also hit the most vulnerable the hardest – such as those who travel across the Bridge to hospital appointments.

The findings of the survey are due to be released in September this year so stay tuned.

So, what is the general opinion on Hull City Council’s ideas, and the numerous suggestions which have been flying around, for solving the problem?

One of the ideas I’ve heard of is a car-free City Centre, where cars and commercial traffic will be banned from going into an “environmental zone”. Other than deliveries to shops and offices during restricted hours, only buses and cyclists will be able to whiz though the centre, dodging pedestrians as they happily breeze through.

Widening the main roads into the City and creating more bus lanes is another idea that has been thrown into the hat of tricks, along with upgrading the existing gridlocked ring road route. You may be sensing my scepticism.

I am, however, delighted to see that Council officials have ruled out a London-style congestion charge, which surely would have been a death sentence for our vibrant City. I’m also pleased to see that Council’s are taking positive steps towards developing park-and-ride schemes.

Even so, there can be no doubt that every single driver is dreading the looming £200m upgrade of Castle Street, which will see Hull’s busiest road restricted to a single lane in each direction for up to four years. Don’t worry though, if you get caught stuck in traffic and are unable to make it across the city, you can always use Cityvisitor to find the nearest B&B or pub in Hull to pass away the time.