Liverpool City Council secures £500,000 from Combined Authority towards its city centre ‘mobility strategy’ including a masterplan for the former Churchill Way flyover site. Tony McDonough reports
A masterplan for the area around the former Churchill Way flyovers in Liverpool is forming part of a city centre ‘mobility strategy’ being put together by the city council.
On Friday it was revealed the council’s cabinet had agreed to accept more than £500,000 from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority that will be used to develop the strategy.
The council wants to make it easier for people to move around the city and make short trips by walking, cycling and using public transport.
Central to the strategy is a masterplan being devised improve the area near the former Churchill Way flyovers, close to the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel.
They were demolished in 2019 at a cost of £6.75m. Both flyovers were closed at the end of September 2018 following the discovery of serious structural flaws. A more detailed examination revealed that multiple, significant defects could not be fixed.
This analysis will inform the St George’s Gateway project which will look to create public realm improvements along with a reconfiguration of the highway network around the tunnel entrance. This work will be guided by the council’s recently adopted public realm strategy.
Funding will also be set aside to produce a summary of public transport options for the masterplan at Upper Central. This covers the corridor past Lime Street station up to Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter.
A critical part of the strategy will be to allow people to switch “seamlessly” between different modes of travel. It will also be designed to fit in with the city’s target of being carbon neutral by 2030.
Liverpool City Council will also use some of this funding programme to develop a new model to improve the delivery of highway maintenance services across the city.
Cllr Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Highways, said: “This funding is key to kick-starting work on a number of projects which will vastly improve Liverpool city centre’s environment.
“Much progress has already been made to start rebalancing how we use the city centre as pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users, but there is a lot more still to do.
“This is the next phase in the journey to understand what is required to make the city a much healthier place to live, work, study and visit. Projects such St George’s Gateway and Upper Central are fundamental to delivering a true modal shift in how we travel around the city centre.”