Great Howard Street to remain open until August
Drivers and business will face less disruption than expected from a £10 million scheme to replace a damaged bridge on a major route in and out of Liverpool.
Drivers and business will face less disruption than expected from a £10 million scheme to replace a damaged bridge on a major route in and out of Liverpool.
The project, on the A565 at Great Howard Street, is needed to replace a weak bridge which transports traffic over a disused railway line to north Liverpool docks.
Work will start as planned on Monday 4 July - but newly appointed contractors GRAHAM Construction say the road will remain open until the end of August.
During the tender process, they identified a way to change the phasing of the works to keep the route open for longer than initially envisaged.
Graham Contracts Director Dave Brown said: “We are really keen to minimise the impact that this technically challenging scheme has on local people, businesses and road users.
“We have collaborated closely with Liverpool City Council to propose innovative construction techniques which will keep Great Howard Street open to traffic for longer than initially estimated.
“This gives us a great opportunity to help local businesses to plan their activities around these major works on a key arterial route into the city.”
Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet member for regeneration, said: “This scheme is absolutely essential to improving traffic flow, but we want to do absolutely everything we can to minimise the disruption that is caused to commuters and businesses while the work is being carried out.
“The contractors are now able to keep the road open for the first six weeks while getting on with other parts of the project, which is really good news for everyone who uses the route and lives and works in the area.
“Obviously it will have to close at some point and we will let those who will be affected know the exact date in good time.
“We need to invest in our infrastructure so we are able to handle the increasing amount of businesses, freight and people travelling to and through Liverpool.
“This is especially important on this route due to the completion of the new Liverpool 2 deep water port which is absolutely critical to the future economic success of the city region and will help create and support many jobs.”
The contract award will sustain existing employment and education commitments made by GRAHAM Construction on their current Gladstone Dock Biomass project. Local businesses, community groups, schools, colleges and universities will all be encouraged to engage with the project team in order that the investment can maximise potential benefits across Liverpool and Merseyside.
When the road does close at the end of August, it will be shut in both directions between Chadwick Street and the MINI garage until the start of 2017. Two official diversion routes will be in force:
For all traffic (including HGVs): via Sandhills Road, Commercial Road, Vauxhall Road and Leeds Street, although other routes will.
For non-HGVs only: via Dublin Street, Regent Road, Waterloo Road and Paisley Street
It will be timed so that it does not clash with any other planned roadworks in the area, to make sure there is no additional disruption for motorists.
Over the next few years around £250 million will be spent upgrading roads across the city, carrying out improvements and tackling the historic backlog of highways repairs.