Published: Thursday, 28th February, 2008 9:00am

Plaza work to be completed in May

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THE re-modelling of the tolls plaza at the Forth Road Bridge which began with preparations for the removal of the £1 charge to cross the water earlier this month is expected to be completed by mid-May.

The work includes the removal of the toll booths and the canopy as well as allowing for a permanent traffic control system and the widening of the Echline on-ramp to create a bus lane.

A new bus lane at the north will connect the existing bus lay-by to the Welldean lay-by, providing for safer manoeuvring of north-bound buses.

The overall cost of the project is expected to be around £1.8 million, which will be funded by £1.7 million from the Scottish Government and £100,000 from SEStran.

Work initially got under way after peak traffic on 6th February with two booths removed, the service chambers filled and the concrete plinths taken away.

Another booth was removed on 10th February to ensure there was a clear carriageway available by midnight when traffic was diverted away from the remaining four booths.

Chief engineer and bridgemaster Barry Colford said, 'While five booths were made available at peak time it was inevitable that delays were experienced due to the reduction in tolling capacity from over 3500 vehicles per hour to 2500 per hour.

'We knew it was going to be painful but it wasn"t possible to do the work at night.'