Liverpool City Council has made a successful bid for Government funding to replace a bridge on a major route.
The Department for Transport has awarded £8.5m from the Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Funding towards replacing the Great Howard Street bridge. The total cost of the replacement works is £10m
It is a scheme which is seen as highly important for freight traffic using the new Superport development.
The Challenge Fund is for one-off major infrastructure schemes which improve life for local residents and businesses.
The bridge and adjacent tunnel support the A565, a main freight route. The last structural assessment highlighted the need for this bridge to be replaced. The new structure will be designed to have a long life and be able to carry loads of up to 44 tonnes ensuring the road remains open, allowing abnormal loads to use the strategic freight network.
This work – which is due to start In Autumn and is expected to last about a year- will complement work to make the A565 a dual carriageway. This scheme, which has been awarded a Regional Growth Fund grant of £13.5 million will involve widening the carriageway by about nine metres to ease congestion during peak times and improve road safety. The dualling work will follow on from the bridge replacement.
Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: “This is a very important scheme both for business and residents. Great Howard Street is a main route for freight traffic and its importance is increasing as work on the Superport gathers pace.
“We need a route which will be able to take abnormal loads which, given the current state of the bridge, is not possible. We also want to be sure that Great Howard Street is not going to have to close because the structural condition of the bridge means it cannot take any traffic,.
“But this is a road which is also important to commuters and local residents and the work to widen it will help deal with congestion.
“The success of our bid will bring economic benefits to the city region and open up new business and job opportunities in this area. By providing a more efficient way that people and goods can get across the city it will be a catalyst for growth.”