the bridge not yet be built and the ferry service remain. Within a week they presented a report to the county municipality's transport committee, but were not able to convince the committee to instruct the toll company to work to retain a passenger ferry service. Protests were also made by parents at Lyderhorn School and Nybø School in Bergen, which were both located along the roads which were proposed used to connect to the bridge. The issue was discussed in the county council on 14 December. The council voted principally in favor of a bridge, but did not give any grants. It also did not prioritize between the Askøy Bridge and the planned Nordhordland Bridge. Two days later, Einar Corneliussen, director of the Bergen Port Authority, stated that they had erred when they had permitted the Sotra Bridge to be built with a clearance below of , after abandoning their original demands of , and that large ships now had to sail around Hjeltefjorden. Although Bergen Mekaniske Verksted (BMV) previously had accepted a height of , that was in a time when drilling rigs could have their towers lowered, which was no longer the case. Corneliusen stated that the clearance on the Askøy Bridge would have to be at least . The Public Roads Administration stated that this would increase the span with . On 13 September 1978, Bergen Municipality stated that their official stand was that the bridge had to have a clearance of . In 1978, Rutelaget Askøy–Bergen started planning possible bus routes from the island across the bridge, and also proposed purchasing new fast ferries which could run from Kleppestø to Nøsten in less than ten minutes. In September 1979, the Public Roads Administration presented the plans for a new road structure in Ytre Laksevåg along National Road 555, including a connection to the bridge, as well as the possibility for a new ferry quay. The plan had four main routes from the bridge towards the city center, and the bridge was planned with two clearances, . The first alternative involved a tunnel from the bridge to Gravdalsvatnet, which would be the shortest route. The second would run part of the way to Gravdalsvatnet, where it would merge with National Road 555 and both would run through a tunnel to Gravdalsvatnet; this would give about the same distance to the city center, but shorter distance to Sotra.