Throughout the course of November, Scottish Chambers of Commerce partnered The Scotsman newspaper in launching a major national campaign for the construction of a new Forth Crossing to replace the existing Forth Road Bridge.  Experts have estimated that the existing bridge will have to close to heavy goods vehicles by 2013 and close to all traffic by 2018 as a result of wear and tear caused by the huge number of vehicles using the crossing.

Action is therefore needed as a matter of urgency if we are to avoid the massive economic cost of failing to replace the Forth Road Bridge, which is estimated at as much as �900 million per year.  This is not just an East of Scotland issue, and has clear implications for all of Scotland.

Currently the Scottish Executive seem content to postpone a concrete decision on a new crossing until after next year�s Scottish Parliamentary Elections in May, but this is too important an issue to play politics with � it is a matter of economic necessity.

Chambers across Scotland, including Lanarkshire Chamber of Commerce are continuing to lobby hard on the need for a new Forth Crossing and this will form a key part of our transport agenda for the coming months.

Back to full news list