Work on the £9m upgrade of Lime Street in Liverpool was halted after the main contractor collapsed and now the council has appointed HA Civils to clean up the site before Christmas. Tony McDonough reports
A new contractor has been appointed to make Lime Street “safe, secure and clean” in time for Christmas and the contract for the completion of the £9m project will now go out to tender.
Earlier this month Liverpool City Council terminated the contract for the scheme, Part of the £47m, Liverpool City Centre Connectivity (LCCC) programme, after the main contractor, NMCN, collapsed into administration.
The main phase of the project was almost complete but now that will be delayed until spring 2022 while a new contractor is appointed. In the meantime, the council has hired HA Civils to minimise disruption in the run up to the festive period.
The authority said: “Following the collapse of our original contractor, we’re pleased to announce that HA Civils has been appointed to make Lime Street safe, secure and clean in time for Liverpool’s Christmas Market which starts in mid-November.
“HA Civils were appointed via the council’s planned works framework. A tender will now be made for the remaining highways elements of the Lime Street upgrade. It is expected the scheme will complete by spring 2022. We apologise for the delays and inconvenience.”
In the days following the collapse of NMCN, LBN reported that a review of the scheme ordered by Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson was unlikely to lead to any significant physical changes to the project. This is despite calls from some councillors who are unhappy at the impact it will have on bus routes across the city centre.
The street, home to St George’s Hall and the Empire Theatre, will be reduced to a single carriageway in each direction. There will be improved access for pedestrians, cyclists and bus passengers.
It will also see changes to the way bus services work in the city centre, with all but a limited number of routes having to terminate at either Queens Square or Liverpool ONE bus station. The city’s new Bus Hub would then become fully operational.
And it is these changes to the movements of buses around the city that have caused concern among the councillors. They are unhappy that the scheme will mean south to north city bus routes would be cut off.
In April, Greenbank Labour councillor Laura Robertson Collins resigned as Cabinet Member for the Environment in protest at the project. This month she presented a motion to the council urging a review.
Mayor Anderson agreed to the review and has instructed officers to carry out modelling to see if councillors’ wishes on the movement of buses around the city centre can be accommodated. However, given how close the job was to completion, any significant changes would be costly.