Once again I return to the issue of the Humber Bridge as it has been the subject of much debate recently, including gathering support in Parliament.

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…

I blogged back in July about the Humber Bridge, saying there would soon be an update on a report commissioned to find out the impact of the tolls.

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.

There’s been an interesting article in the Hull Daily Mail this week about a survey that has been launched to find out the effects of Humber Bridge tolls on local firms.

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.