Liverpool’s roads will be free from all ‘major works’ come September, according to a spokesperson for Liverpool city council.
Over the last two years, a number of high profile scheme have hit trouble and faced significant delays due to the collapse of contractors. Elsewhere, large scale project have gradually edging closer towards completion. According to a council spokesperson, all major projects currently underway should be completed by autumn - with a number of high profile schemes set to finish in a more immediate timescale.
The A565, including Great Howard Street and Derby Road, is one of the key arteries from the city centre to the north of Liverpool but has faced on-going works along the stretch of road for a considerable amount of time. The council has confirmed that these works will be coming to an end “in the next couple of weeks.”
READ MORE: Liverpool Lime Street scheme edges closer to 'final piece of the jigsaw'
In the south of the city, progress is being made on the resurfacing of Lark Lane - a job which escalated in size as a result of historical damage to the road surface. The council assured that pictures shared so far are “work in progress” and amendments are still being made to the design - which is well on its way towards completion.
There will be positive news for those heading north of the city as County Road is on track to be finished at the end of this month. Work will still take place of an evening between 7pm and 6am and involve lane closures, except for when Liverpool and Everton play home matches. As it stands work will be paused when Liverpool clash with Manchester United on Tuesday April 19 and on the following night when Everton take on Leicester city.
Once work is completed on County Road, work will begin on the resurfacing of Walton Lane from the start of May. This too will follow the pattern of evening hours work - except for midweek days when Liverpool and Everton play home matches.
One of the headline schemes in the city is currently taking place Lime Street and has proven a headache for many passing through the area since the collapse of its original contractor in October last year. According to a council spokesperson, the scheme is making progress with expectation for the scheme to complete by the end of the summer.
This comes as the council announced that a tender for resurfacing is set to be advertised in the coming weeks, something which is seen as the “final piece of the jigsaw” for the project. Other final amendments will include the installation of new crossings around Queen Square bus station.
Plans to redevelop Kingsley Road in L8 are still in a phase of consultation, meaning there will be no “major works on the city network come September”, according to council spokesperson. The bad news for commuters is that they can expect more disruption along The Strand when phase two of the project begins.
The first phase of the project saw the area around the iconic Three Graces overhauled to introduce new cycling and walking infrastructure - while also reducing the number of lanes for cars. Phase two involves installing similar infrastructure as the project moves towards the Baltic Triangle. However the council has sought to assure that phase two will be “less impactful” due to the fewer number of junctions in the scheduled second phase of the works. A Liverpool City Council spokesperson added that "details of the timetable for the work on phase two of The Strand will be announced in due course."
Other projects will include installing cycle Lanes on Tithebarn street and Water street, with the council confident the majority of the City Centre Connectivity Scheme will be completed by the end of this year. The controversial scheme, aiming to improve how people travel across the city by car, bike or on foot, was originally drawn up by a previous administration in 2016.
Other major projects coming down the pipeline include the plans to redesign the St George’s gateway and Churchill way, following its demolition. Plans for these schemes were initially signed off in February.
Speaking about some of the delays schemes that are nearing an end, a spokesperson for the city council said they appreciate how difficult it has been" for people and "inconvenience" it has caused. They added that the council has continually sought "to make the best of a bad situation" regarding a number of the schemes.
