Published on 16 Feb 2011
Newly published figures suggest an underlying growth in traffic on the Forth Road Bridge in recent years, despite exceptional winter weather in 2010 causing an overall fall.
A new report for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA), the organisation responsible for operating and maintaining the bridge, sets out traffic numbers recorded by equipment built into the road surface at the end of the bridge. Last year’s figures are compared with figures from 2006, as gaps in the data due to roadworks and equipment failures prevent meaningful comparisons with intervening years.
The total number of vehicle crossings recorded during 2010 was 23,739,120, a decrease of 1.1% compared with 2006.
However, November and December 2010 saw the worst winter weather in the 46-year history of the Forth Road Bridge. Poor weather also caused disruption during January and February 2010. It is estimated that these exceptional conditions resulted in a reduction in traffic of at least 850,000 vehicle crossings during 2010.
If November and December figures are excluded from the comparison, this shows a rise in traffic of 1.95% between 2006 and 2010. If January and February figures are also excluded, this shows a rise of 3.6%.
The Bridge:
Facts & Figures
Opened 1964, 2.5 km long, Main span 1006 metres
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- The best view of the Forth Road Bridge is from the rail bridge - new 360 view shows how elegant the structure is: http://t.co/TX7l54O2