Humber Bridge Traffic "Will Get Better"
Despite a new multi-million pound new electronic tag system coming into force - drivers have still been facing delays.
Humber Bridge users are being asked to be patient and wait a few more days to notice the full effects of a new electronic toll system.
The multi-million pound Humber Tag scheme means people no longer have to stop and pay at a booth and can pay using an online account.
It has been developed to cut congestion on the bridge and improve journey times for motorists.
But since it was introduced yesterday - drivers have experienced long queues during rush hour.
Bridge Master, Peter Hill, says come Monday when all lanes are fully open and people get more used to the new system - traffic will improve. He told Viking:
"We are sure everyone by then will be a little bit more familiar with how the system works, therefore reducing those delays and then come Sunday when we open the Open Road tolling, so from Monday next week we will have all three lanes in each direction accepting tag, vouchers, aswell as cash and the delays really should be minimised."
Already 12,000 people have signed up to the scheme and Peter hopes thousands more will also take advantage of it:
"I'm absolutely sure that once people realise what the system is, what it can offer them and how it can improve their journey, that they will join in because it is to benefit the customer and to make sure we've got a sustainable and scaleable system for the future. The new system that we have got in now will help accomodate any level of traffic growth that we can envisage."
He insists the new system's a long-term fix to the bridge's traffic problems:
"The congestion that we saw, whatever system that we had and if we had stuck with the manual system for example, those delays would have been permanent every day of the week and increasing. This system now will handle those traffic flows and any increases that we can possible envisage at the moment."