Since July 1961 we have had a bridge across the River Mersey between the towns of Widnes and Runcorn. Since the 1970's the two towns have been amalgamated, as Halton. Administrated by Halton Borough Council.
The original bridge, re named as the Silver Jubilee Bridge, had its problems. It was carrying far more traffic than it was ever designed for, and was subject to regular hold ups caused by roadworks or accidents.
It was clear a new crossing was needed and on Friday the thirteenth of October 2017 it closed.
Ten minutes later on the Fourteenth, this opened.
Officially the Mersey Gateway, it is really just a money making creation. It is now tolled, ending free crossings between our two towns.
Halton now has the dubious honour of being the only borough in the country were you have to pay a toll, to get from one side of the borough to the other.
There are some concessions though, commuters and regular users are able to buy in advance, discount tickets. These only cost £90 a month !!
That's nearly £1,100 a year !!!!
There are no toll booths, everything is done by cameras. This has resulted in some farcical situations. One lady was issued with a Penalty Charge Notice, when her broken down car was photographed being carried across the bridge on the back of a breakdown truck !!!
Penalty Charge Notices of £40 are issued if you fail to pay the by midnight of the day after you cross.
A very interesting statistic is that in the first eleven and a half months of the bridge opening, an astonishing 880,000 !!!!! Penalty Charge Notices were issued.
That is ONE PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE for EVERY THIRTY FIVE SECONDS the bridge was open !!!!!!
