EXCLUSIVE: Paul Sweeney said it was no longer realistic to expect Glasgow’s cash-strapped council to pay for the tunnel’s upkeep on its own.
The Clyde Tunnel connects Linthouse in the southside with Whiteinch but is not classed as an A road(Image: DAILY RECORD)
Proposals to make drivers living outside of Glasgow pay to use the Clyde Tunnel are “reasonable”, a Scottish Labour MSP has insisted.
Paul Sweeney said it was no longer realistic to expect the City Council to continue paying for the maintenance of the underwater crossing on its own.
The Glasgow region MSP warned the cash-strapped local authority was already spending around 10 per cent of its entire roads maintenance budget on keeping the 62-year-old tunnel open.
It comes as councillors consider introducing a boundary congestion charge and potential tolling at the Clyde Tunnel, with exemptions for city residents.
Sweeney said: “It is not sustainable for Glasgow City Council to continue maintaining the Clyde Tunnel without a means of raising additional funds, with around 10 per cent of the city’s entire annual road maintenance budget now being eaten up by the maintenance-intensive tunnel.
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“Over the past decade, Glasgow City Council has lost the equivalent of a full year’s worth of funding as a result of disproportionate Scottish Government cuts to Glasgow, compounded by the constrained post-1996 council boundary, meaning that many of the region’s most prosperous suburban households that were in the old Strathclyde Regional Council area no longer contribute to inner city Glasgow’s tax base to support the operation of major regional infrastructure like Clyde Tunnel.
“While I believe Transport Scotland should take over responsibility for what is a nationally significant trunk road, it is clear Glasgow City Council cannot continue to subsidise an annual funding shortfall of £820,000 on the Clyde Tunnel. Therefore, introducing a toll for vehicles that are not registered within the city council boundary passing through the tunnel seems like a reasonable proposal in line with European norms.”
Council chiefs are frustrated the local authority has to pay for the upkeep of the crossing as it is not classed as being part of the national road network.
But councillors have been told a regulatory check must be carried out before a toll scheme for non-city residents can be introduced, something unlikely to be completed before the next Scottish Parliament election in May.
A group of Scottish Labour MPs last week warned that introducing tolls would be a backwards step. In an open letter, they warned: “This proposal would have a devastating impact on the tens of thousands of residents outside of Glasgow who rely on this route for their daily commute into and through the city.
“Implementing a toll would essentially amount to a tax on jobs, disproportionately affecting individuals who work in Glasgow but reside in surrounding areas.”
Susan Aitken, SNP leader of Glasgow City Council, said last week the local authority had “no specific proposal to introduce a toll on the Clyde Tunnel and lacks the legal powers to do so”.
But she accepted the council faced “significant issues about how we pay for critical national infrastructure – the cost of which in this case falls entirely and, frankly, unfairly on the citizens of Glasgow”.
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