Bridge crossings reached a record high in Halton this summer, with more than 6.51 million journeys made between July-September 2023.

Bridge bosses said it is the highest number of crossings recorded since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in October 2017, breaking the previous record of 6.35 million crossings from April-June 2023.

The newly-released quarterly figures from tolls operator merseyflow include trips made across both the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the Silver Jubilee Bridge, both of which are covered by the same merseyflow toll/charging system.

They cover July - September 2023, and show that:

  • Crossings over the River Mersey in Halton continue to break records - 6.51 million journeys were made over the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges between July - September 2023, the highest quarterly figure since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened.
  • Traffic levels on the Silver Jubilee Bridge are back to normal - 340,000 journeys were made in September 2023 on the reopened Silver Jubilee Bridge, the joint highest since it was changed to one lane in each direction.
  • A total of 79,000 vehicles now cross the River in Halton every weekday – with 85% of them using the Mersey Gateway Bridge.
  • More than 97% of journeys were paid for on time.

Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: "It’s reassuring to see traffic levels on the Silver Jubilee Bridge returning to normal after a period of temporary closures."

He also urged Halton residents who are entitled to the local user discount scheme (LUDS) to make sure they have renewed in time.

He added: "We have a busy period coming up for renewals for LUDS plan holders in Halton, and although we’ve had a fantastic response by residents signing up to the new auto-renew scheme we would like to encourage any eligible residents due to renew their LUDS plan to visit the merseyflow website and switch to auto-renew today."

Neil Conway, Chief Executive of merseyflow, added: "We’re coming up to the sixth anniversary of the opening of the Mersey Gateway Bridge now, and customers are continuing to take advantage of our Pre-Pay plans with auto top-up to make paying for their crossings easier and decrease the risk of receiving a penalty charge notice."