Category: Mersey Tunnels

Mersey Tunnels question, plans to upgrade Mersey Tunnels in 2012/2013?

A reader asks, “Is there any plan to upgrade Mersey Tunnels in Merseyside in 2012/2013?” Mersey Tunnel’s (part of Merseytravel) have a capital Budget estimate for 2012/2013 of £2.59 million on the following programs:- Ongoing Schemes 2 Bidston Moss Contribution £160,000 ICT 1 ICT Infrastructure refresh/asset renewal/refurb £545,000 2 ICT Business Applications Provision £385,000 3 … Continue reading “Mersey Tunnels question, plans to upgrade Mersey Tunnels in 2012/2013?”

A reader asks, “Is there any plan to upgrade Mersey Tunnels in Merseyside in 2012/2013?”

Mersey Tunnel’s (part of Merseytravel) have a capital Budget estimate for 2012/2013 of £2.59 million on the following programs:-

Ongoing Schemes
2 Bidston Moss Contribution £160,000

ICT
1 ICT Infrastructure refresh/asset renewal/refurb £545,000
2 ICT Business Applications Provision £385,000
3 ICT Transport Systems £1.45 million
5 ICT Customer Services £50,000

The Mersey Tunnels 2012/2013 Revenue Budget of £36.948 million includes the following £6.375 million of Budget lines that may involve items that are an answer to your question as they may relate in full or in part to assets.

Premises

3 Repair and Maintenance of Building & Grounds £188,000
Supplies and Services

7 Equipment £25,000

8 Printing, Telephones etc £452,000

9 Operational Tools and Equipment £704,000

12 Asset Management, Repairs, Maintenance and Projects Recharge £5.006 million

Total £6.375 million.

So in total £8.965 million of budget lines in 2012/2013 that could relate to this question.

Source: CTTE/CB/HS Budget Papers (Green (Revenue) and Yellow (Capital))  for public meeting on 9th February 2012. There are also various savings (Pink) identified to the Mersey Tunnels Budget for 2012/13 that have been factored into the above figures.

Merseyrail: Changes to train timetables for Sunday 28th August and Monday 29th August and Mersey Tunnel Closure

Due to the Matthew Street festival, Wirral Line trains will be following a temporary timetable. James Street station will be closed on Sunday 28th August and Monday 29th August.

The Wirral Line temporary timetable is in addition to a temporary Northern Line timetable.

Also The Queensway (Birkenhead) Tunnel will be closed to all traffic travelling in both directions from 1930 on Saturday 27 August until 0630 Tuesday 30 August.

The Kingsway (Wallasey) Tunnel will be open, however due to water main renewal works at Liverpool on the exit road towards the city centre, traffic will be limited to one lane. The lane will be closed from the exit of the tunnel at Liverpool to Scotland Road. All lanes will be operational through the tunnel itself however, delays may occur and motorists are advised to allow extra time for their journey.

Trains running to the special timetables will not stop at the following stations:-

Wirral Line
Chester and Ellesmere Port trains: No stopping at James Street or Liverpool Central stations
New Brighton and West Kirby trains: No stopping at James Street or Moorfields stations

Northern Line
Hunts Cross and Southport: on Monday 29th August trains will run to a Saturday timetable
Kirkby and Ormskirk: on Monday 29th August trains will run to a Saturday timetable with an earlier start time.

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 12 Merseyside Police

There was a plan to deal with sunny weather in West Kirby and Hoylake. They wanted people to come and behave and to keep antisocial behaviour down. The Have Your Say meeting only were attracting one or two, but now got a lot more. The Hoylake and West Kirby meeting had been merged, they were now held in the evening and they had got rid of the paperwork replacing it with a presentation. He asked if any members of the public had questions?

A member of the public asked how Hilbre Island was being handled? Inspector Blease said they had two quad bikes and a Land Rover, however there was no ranger. They were going on the land and it had been ok. It was a fantastic piece of heritage. Cllr Ellis said it hadn’t been manned for one or two years. Cllr Ellis joked they should brick up the Mersey Tunnel to reduce crime.

The Inspector said they would be getting British Transport Police officers on the trains. Leonora Brace said she was glad about this following an incident on a train on her birthday. Inspector Blease said there was CCTV on the trains of a high quality.

A member of the public asked if the police were able to go to groups using foul language in public places? The police said they could but it wasn’t a criminal offence to be abusive to the police. He said if it was done in a member of the public’s sight or hearing they could do something about it. He joked and said he was used to abuse from his wife.

Looking back over the last 12 months

Looking back over the last half-year or so since this blog started, what were the stories and pages on this blog that have captured the public’s attention and brought them to this blog?

There was the story about the 2011 Census, which many people had questions about ranging from why was there no question 17 (it was a question asking if you understand, speak, read or write Welsh).

The About John Brace” page was popular and attracted a number of comments. It’ll be updated soon.

This Cabinet meeting about the Conservative-Lib Dem budget and Labour not being happy was read over a hundred times.

Merseytravel’s response on Mersey Tunnel’s issues also aroused interest.

The pages about protest outside Birkenhead County Court regarding Council Tax and the Save our Forests campaign were read just a bit more than stories about the Chinese New Year celebrations in Liverpool, HMS Campbeltown, ID Cards being scrapped or the Labour Chair of Merseytravel using his casting vote to increase Mersey Tunnel tolls.

More local issues also aroused interest such as the Lib Dem plan to invest £1.8 million in Cathcart Street primary school as a result of the closure of Cole Street primary school and the relocation of the Children’s Centre across the road to Cathcart Street Primary School, how much councillors are paid (which was used by some parties during the election to show how some councillors were getting £50,000+/year), Arriva not stopping its buses at the new bus stop near Tesco, the Lib Dem Mayor at Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm, Flaybrick cemetery flytipping and the Corsair in Bidston Village being demolished.

Over the Winter the issue of gritting and bin collections was on resident’s minds. The street level crime website and minimum price proposals for alcohol were also topics the public were interested in.

In total there have been 5,557 views of pages on this website and it has been read keenly by certain councillors and others. Yet who knows what the public will be wanting from its elected representatives in the next 12 months?

Mersey Tunnel Fast Tags

A reader asks “How do you use a disabled Mersey Tunnel fast tag?” . This is very simple.

You go through the tunnel as normal to the toll booth or if going to Liverpool reach the toll booth first.

Disabled Fast Tags can only be used at manned toll booths so make sure you go to the right one. Unmanned toll booths (such as the one reached if you come out of the tunnel from Liverpool and turn left) confusingly marked “Fast Tag” can’t be used (unless you want to create a major traffic jam backing up into the Tunnel!).

Once you’ve waited in the queue, show the person in the toll booth your Merseytravel issued photo ID card. They will then check the Merseytravel issued photo ID, a trip will be added to your Fast Tag. Within a short time the barrier should be up and you should be on your way.

However there are rules to follow:-

If using a disabled Fast Tag you can’t:-

a) carry passengers for hire or reward (eg taxi driver etc)
b) carry goods for hire or reward
c) travel without paying if you don’t have either the photo ID or the Fast Tag
d) the Fast Tag/concession is tied to a particular vehicle; if you travel in a different vehicle it won’t be allowed
e) a tolls officer may request your Blue Badge. If you can’t produce it you may have to pay.
f) there have been reports from disabled people of tolls officers disputing whether a person looks like their photo ID. People’s appearance over the up to 3 years the Fast Tag is valid for can vary. Many disabled people can have to wear glasses when driving that alters their appearance or if having a bad day can look older than their photo.

Further information including an application form can be found on the Mersey Tunnel’s website.