In 2019 Liverpool City Council unveiled a £120m plan to demolish the flyover at the Rocket and redesign the junction – but now the project is to undergo a rethink. Tony McDonough reports
A £120m plan to upgrade the Rocket junction at the end of the M62 in Liverpool and demolish the Queens Drive flyover is to go back to the drawing board.
Liverpool City Council first unveiled the project in 2019. The junction in Broadgreen connects the start of the M62, with the A5080 and the A5058 Queens Drive. Pre-pandemic it saw 100,000 vehicles a day pass through.
This was projected to worsen over the next few years resulting in more congestion and pollution. As a major gateway to the city the council proposed a revamp that would see the installation of a new roundabout, featuring a dual lane underpass.
However, since its inception, there have been significant changes to both local and national policy objectives. The council has been reviewing its previous commitments, to ensure they align to the city’s new vision and objectives outlined in the City Plan, as well as national transport policy objectives.
It has now requested that the Department for Transport allow additional time to re-evaluate the scheme, to examine how it could transform the way people move around and through the area, while also improving traffic flow and cutting congestion. The re-evaluation will include a look at how the scheme could:
- Support active travel and in turn improve air quality.
- Deliver public transport improvements to, and parking at, Broadgreen station to encourage motorists to ‘park and ride’ into the city centre.
- Support and enable a proposed green bus corridor on the A57, which runs parallel to the route.
Cllr Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “So much has changed since this scheme was originally commissioned, and this is an opportune moment to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes.
“The pandemic has altered commuting patterns, with employers moving to a more flexible work pattern for staff and people not necessarily travelling into the office every day. Crucially, as an administration we are now viewing every decision we make through the Mayor’s Triple Lock of the impact on people, planet and equality.
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“We have declared a climate emergency so we have to look at ways in which we can use this scheme to encourage people not to drive into the city centre, adding to congestion and air pollution. Other cities operate successful Park and Ride schemes into the centre from the outskirts, and we should have the same ambition.
“It is right that we stop to take a breath now, and see whether we can make changes and improvements to link it up with greener and more active modes of transport.
“This is a scheme that will have its impact felt for decades ahead, and within that context we are taking a relatively short period of time to review the scheme, which could pay dividends in the longer term.”