A rise in the toll for the East Link Bridge is to be considered by the Dublin City Council and will be discussed this month among the councillors. According to the reports, the rise would be 36% which will make the current rate of €1.40 to €1.90 for private cars.
The hike proposal is to compensate the funding issues faced by the council and was first proposed in 2019. But it has been postponed mainly due to the Covid crisis and the authority is reconsidering it as the restrictions eased remarkably. The traffic on the bridge has also come back to 85% of the pre-pandemic period.
The bridge officially known as the Tom Clarke Bridge was first opened in 1984 and later acquired by the State in 2015 after the 30-year contract with private operators ended.
Currently the tolls from the bridge add approximately €4 million annually to the council accounts.