Following the collapse of a contractor almost £5m of work on five Liverpool highways projects was left unfinished and now the city council is pushing to get them completed. Tony McDonough reports

Five highways schemes in Liverpool that stalled due to the collapse of a contractors are set to restart.

Work on projects at Byrom Street, Walton Lane, County Road – A59, Kingsley Road, and A565 – North Liverpool Key corridor, all ground to a halt after original contractor VIAM fell into administration. Almost £5m worth of work is still to be completed.

After issuing a termination notice to VIAM, which went into administration on June 1, Liverpool City Council has secured permission to appoint Siemens to complete the traffic signals installation along County Road (A59).

It is anticipated Siemens will be on site next week (beginning Monday, July 5). It is expected traffic signals installation will take a few weeks to complete, which will then be followed by resurfacing works.

The city council is also appointing Huyton Asphalt, via its planned works framework, to complete the upgrade to Kingsley Road in Toxteth. It is anticipated this contractor will be on site on Monday, July 12.

For the remaining three schemes, the council is to advertise tenders on its procurement framework with the intention of appointing contractors within the next four weeks. Following the collapse of VIAM, the city council moved swiftly to ensure the stalled schemes presented no health and safety risks.

Cllr Daniel Barrington, Cabinet member for Climate Emergency, Transport and Environment, said: “The stalling of these highways schemes has presented numerous challenges to resolve and to get them back on track.

“We appreciate this has been a source of frustration for motorists, residents and local businesses and as a council we’ve moved as fast as possible to find a solution. The upgrades to the A59 and A565, in particular, are of huge consequence to our overall highways network.”