After the proposals for a tunnel died out in 1970, there remained two critical groups against the project: those who were in favor of the bridge, but critical to the details in the plan, and those who were opposed to a bridge and wanted to keep the ferry service. The former group was largely concerned about the choice of the outer route, rather than the inner crossing to Kvarven. The latter would give a significantly shorter route to the city center, and the same driving distance to places south of Bergen, including Bergen Airport, Flesland. Another issue was that there was not a sufficient road network in Bergen to handle the traffic from the bridge. Starting in late 1970, a petition was created demanding a referendum about which crossing should be chosen. The issue was discussed in the municipal council on 23 April, and was dismissed with five votes in favor of a referendum.