Severn Bridge (Hansard, 10 December 1992)

§ Mr. Alex Carlile
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many hours delay have been reported on the Severn bridge since 15 November due to repair work; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
Emergency repairs to the anti-skid surfacing made it necessary to restrict westbound traffic to one lane only from the afternoon of 30 November until early morning on 4 December. Delays of up to two hours at peak times were reported. There were much shorter delays on 5 December when a lane was again closed for the work to be completed.
There have been no other delays to traffic due to repair work during the period in question.

§ Mr. Alex Carlile
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward proposals whereby tolls on the Severn bridge will be suspended while travellers are delayed due to road closures because of repairs; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
The Severn Bridges Act 1992 allows the concessionaire, at his discretion, to suspend tolls. We have no plans to seek amendments to the relevant provisions. Recent repairs to the bridge took less than one week to complete.

§ Mr. Alex Carlile
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce proposals to amend the Severn Bridges Act 1992 in respect of the level of tolls.

§ Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
No. The toll levels in the Act were fully debated in Parliament. The current tolls are contributing directly to the provision of the much needed second Severn bridge.