A £5.9m project to upgrade a key gateway into Liverpool city centre will finally be completed in the next few days. Tony McDonough reports
Work on the £5.9m revamp of County Road in north Liverpool is now entering its final few days.
County Road is part of the A59, a major gateway into the city centre from north Liverpool, passing Everton FC’s Goodison Park, before linking up to Aintree Racecourse and on to the motorway system.
Last summer main work on the scheme ground to a halt when contractor Viam, formerly Kings Construction, collapsed into administration just months before the project was due for completion. It includes three upgraded crossings, a new toucan crossing and two new pedestrian crossings.
After a tendering process, Liverpool City Council appointed a new contractor, Huyton Asphalt, in late October to finish the scheme. The company is also undertaking the resurfacing of nearby Walton Lane.
After the city’s annual Christmas embargo on roadworks Huyton Asphalt undertook a comprehensive check of works to date at which an issue on the varying depths of the road required an urgent design review and further delayed the restart.
Now the scheme is set for completion this Friday (April 29). It comes just weeks after the council’s highways and transportation team set out a new approach, using a mix of AI and photography, to devise a multi-million pound programme that will improve more than 100 roads across the city over the next 12 months.
The £34.6m highways improvement programme identified the roads in the worst condition. Following approval by Cabinet, the council will soon be issuing tenders for the schemes, many of which will involve road resurfacing works. As soon as the County Road works finish contractors will move on to resurfacing nearby Walton Lane.
That scheme, which will operate under a 20mph limit for motorists, will begin on Tuesday, May 3. Works there are expected to complete by the start of June and will require a number of full night-time road closures.
The County Road scheme, which has also seen bus priority introduced at two major junctions as well as 2km of road resurfacing, is a key element of a wider programme to upgrade the city’s highways network over the coming decade.
Cllr 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.
“I’m pleased that the new programme of works will be completed to schedule as it plays a crucial role on our network. Walton Lane will soon be the new focus when County Road is completed and hopefully with settled weather, the contractor will get a smooth run and there’s no more setbacks.”