Barriers At Itchen Tolls Could Return

Barriers could be reinstalled on Southampton's Itchen Toll Bridge.

They were removed earlier this year after a fault caused them to crash down on vehicles.

But the council says traffic flow has improved since the bridge became fully-automated on March the 1st, so the barriers may now return.

Councillor Asa Thorpe, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport said:

"The bridge went fully automated on 1 March 2013, with a relatively smooth switch over. Traffic flow at peak times has become as fast as before the automation and over 14,000 drivers are finding the use of a Smartcities card a very convenient and efficient way to use the bridge.

"The bridge automation runs and is monitored 24 hours a day enabling us to keep more lanes open at off peak times. The new barriers were removed during trials when we discovered the sensors were not always registering motorbikes consistently.

"Safety is paramount for the bridge and so we continue to monitor the system. We are considering reinstating the barriers in the future but would welcome comments from bridge users."

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