Work on one of Liverpool’s key highway schemes is set to resume and has been given a new date for completion.
Essential works taking place along County Road have been paused for a number of weeks after it was announced that an urgent design review needed to take place.
Work was set to resume on the troubled scheme following the city’s annual Christmas embargo, however, following a comprehensive check of works to date by current contractors Huyton Asphalt, issues with varying depths of the road required a design review and delayed the restart.
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Huyton Asphalt were appointed as the new contractors for the scheme in October after its original contractors, VIAM, formerly trading as Kings, collapsed into administration in the summer of 2021.
According to Liverpool city council, VIAM was months from completing the £5.9m scheme but the road was instead left in a significant state of disrepair.
When Huyton Asphalt took over the scheme it was hoped that it would be complete by February 2022, but further delays arose from the design review.
Road users and locals have since outlined how the area had become a “health hazard” due to the large amount of torn up road surface left exposed.
Businesses in the area are still suffering disruption as a result of the incomplete surface and prolonged delay to the works.
Liverpool city council has now confirmed that the design review has been concluded and the works on County Road will resume on Monday February 28.
It is hoped that the works can be completed by the end of April.
When the design review was announced, worksinstead began on resurfacing the nearby Walton Lane.
However these works will now be suspended and will be resumed once the County Road scheme is complete.
The Walton Lane scheme is expected to be completed by the end of June.
On County Road, a phased programme of works – running from Spellow Lane to Hale Road junctions - will require lane closures during the day and a full road closure from 7pm each night until 6am, on a Monday to Friday basis.
A 20mph speed limit will be in force on both County Road and Walton Lane until the schemes complete.
The County Road scheme, which included three upgraded crossings, a new toucan crossing and two new pedestrian crossings, bus priority at two major junctions and 2km of road resurfacing.is a key element of a wider programme to upgrade the city’s highways network over the coming decade.
Councillor Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “County Road has been beset with a number of deeply unfortunate setbacks which has caused huge upset, which we can only apologise for.
“The council has moved as swiftly as possible to address each setback however, we appreciate that when a major road like County has already experienced more than two years of disruption, patience is understandably in short supply.
“I’m pleased that the urgent design review and new programme of works has been completed as quickly as possible, as it means we can revert back to County Road which is everyone’s priority given the condition it is in and the crucial role it plays on our network.
“It’s worth stressing that it was right to mobilise on Walton Lane a fortnight ago, whilst this review was being done, as it meant the contractor was not standing idle, which would have been a waste of tax payers’ money.
“Walton Lane will now be the main diversion until County Road is completed, and given we have now done a fortnight’s work there it’s in a better condition to take traffic and we won’t have as much left to do to finish it.
“Of course, these timings can be affected by the weather and as we all witnessed last week mother nature can play havoc with these kind of plans. Hopefully we get a smooth run and there’s no more setbacks.”
