THRIFTY drivers appear to have found as good a reason as any to pay a visit to the south bank – the Humber Bridge was free to cross.
For the first time in the bridge's 33-year history, tolls were suspended for a few days until midnight yesterday.
Bridge master Peter Hill made the decision not to charge drivers in a bid to ease congestion resulting from resurfacing work on the M180.
It seems East Yorkshire residents wasted no time in taking advantage.
Mr Hill said: "Without a doubt, free travel across the bridge has peaked people's interest in making social use of it."
But the bridge has not just seen families enjoying jollies to the Lincolnshire coast.
Many drivers endured stressful journeys to and from work last week.
Drivers were diverted via the A18 at junction 1 of the M180, but many ended up using the A63 and the Humber Bridge, leading to tailbacks.
On Wednesday evening, bridge staff were ordered not to take tolls for one hour, which helped improve flow.
Mr Hill said: "I identified that we were causing a huge bottleneck, so for an hour, from 6pm to 7pm, we lifted the tolls. This decision was taken by ourselves without consultation with the Highways Agency.
"We then had discussions with the Highways Agency, which is responsible for the M180 work, and we decided to suspend tolls again, from Thursday until midnight on Monday."
The Highways Agency has agreed to refund the Humber Bridge Board the amount of money it has missed out on, while the tolls were suspended.
Mr Hill and his team were last night calculating the agency's total bill.
"It's the first time we have suspended tolls and, clearly, it is not something we can do on a regular basis," he said.
"But this was an unprecedented situation and we needed to do something to improve the flow of traffic."
The Highways Agency has confirmed work between junction 2 and 3 on the eastbound carriageway of the M180, which began last Wednesday, was completed at 4.20am yesterday.
But Mr Hill said he had carefully chosen the time to reinstate the tolls.
"Clearly, a lot of people are aware tolls have been suspended," he said.
"Drivers have been approaching the Humber Bridge Board at the national speed limit expecting to go straight past the toll booths.
"The last thing we wanted was a situation where lots of vehicles were having to brake sharply to pay at the booths. This would present a risk to safety.
"This is why we deliberately chose a quiet time to reinstate the bridge tolls."
A Highways Agency spokesman said, in light of the significant disruption caused, future planned work on the M180 will now be reviewed.
He said: "The 24-hour closures planned to take place in two weeks' time will now be reassessed and replanned to ensure a repeat of this situation does not occur."
The Humber Bridge Board owes the Government in the region of £175m.
Its main income is raised from the £1.50 each way toll.
In 2013/2014, 7.5 million cars, lorries and motorbikes travelled on the bridge – the third consecutive year-on-year rise.
• Travel news from the Hull Daily Mail
