Motorists and businesses 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.
Liverpool City Council is delighted to have appointed GRAHAM Construction as Principal Contractor on the A565 Great Howard Street bridge contract.
Work will start as planned on Monday 4 July on the A565 Great Howard Street – and contractors GRAHAM Construction confirm the road will not now need to close completely until the end of August.
GRAHAM Construction contracts director Dave Brown said “We aim 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 that will keep Great Howard Street open to traffic for longer than initially envisaged. 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.”
The project is needed to replace a weak bridge that currently transports traffic over a disused railway line to north Liverpool docks.
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.
“GRAHAM Construction will be 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.”
When the road does close, 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.
Further phases of the scheme between 2017 and 2019 will require lane restrictions rather than a road closure, and will see:
• The completion of dual carriageway on the A565 on Great Howard Street/Derby Road between King Edward Street and Blackstone Street and Bankhall Street to Millers Bridge
• Improvements to Regent Road to make it more pedestrian and cycle friendly
Over the next few years it is estimated that around £250 million will be spent upgrading the city’s roads carrying out improvements and tackling the historic backlog of highways repairs.
GRAHAM Construction have delivered many complex bridge projects in recent years including the award winning projects at Tennison Road, Croydon, Peace Bridge, Northern Ireland and Rosie Hackett Bridge, Dublin.
GRAHAM Construction will work collaboratively throughout the project with Liverpool City Council and their designer, Amey, to engage local stakeholders in order to ensure that investment in the scheme delivers benefits from start to finish. 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.
For more information about highways investment in the city visit www.liverpool.gov.uk/betterroads, like Better Roads on Facebook or follow on Twitter @betterroadsliv
