New phase of £22m dual carriageway in North Liverpool to begin

A new phase in the creation of a £22m dual carriageway into Liverpool city centre begins next week. 

New works will begin on Monday, 4 February on Great Howard Street (A565) which will require a closure of the inbound traffic for up to four weeks.

The inbound (city centre bound) closure will come into effect from 9.30am between Blackstone Street and Leeds Street to allow for a deep excavation to support underling utility connections and to enable drainage surveys.

A diversion on Boundary Street (A5054) to Vauxhall Road (A5038) will be in place.

Commuters and road users travelling in to Liverpool from Bootle are advised to anticipate delays and guided to use alternative corridors into the city centre – such as Regent Road and Stanley Road.

The dual carriageway scheme has been funded by the Local Growth Fund (LGF). Local Growth Funding is awarded to the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and invested through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through its Strategic Investment Fund.

This overall investment package of road improvements in the north Liverpool area is worth more than £100m and is a key element of Liverpool City Council’s £500m Better Roads programme to invest in the city’s highways network.

The works are also seen as crucial to the development of surrounding major regeneration schemes such as the Ten Streets creativity district and Everton FC’s proposed new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock in Liverpool Waters.

Earlier phases on the A565 scheme included a new bridge, which was designed to support freight traffic for the Liverpool Superport and a new wall to improve access to the historic Stanley Flight canal lock system, which sits within Liverpool’s World Heritage site.

Councillor James Noakes, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “The North Liverpool corridor is a hugely complex highways scheme involving an immense amount of engineering works on two major roads at the same time.

“To ensure traffic flows this scheme can only be carried out by a phased approach which means some weeks there are full road closures and some weeks just lane closures. 

“We really appreciate the patience of motorists as these essential works are carried out and fortunately there are other alternative routes. Of course, schemes of this nature cause disruption but the long term gains of this investment in north Liverpool’s infrastructure are going to help redefine our city’s economic future.”