£3m plan to expand the network of permanent cycle lanes in Liverpool go out to public consultation. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool City Council is to ask the public for its views on a £3m plan to create three new permanent cycle routes in the city.

Part of the authority’s Active Travel programme, if the routes get the go ahead they will be completed by spring 2023. The council will put out a tender to seek a contractor to carry out the works. The proposed lanes will cover the following routes:

• East Lancs Road to the city centre – from Norris Green to Breck Road and on to Everton Park.
• Gateacre to the city centre – connecting up the university campuses through to the Knowledge Quarter.
• Sefton Park to the city centre – connecting the Ropewalks to Baltic Triangle and on to Dingle and Aigburth.

These route measures being proposed set out to fill gaps in the existing network to overcome significant barriers to cycling. During the pandemic council set up three pop-up cycle routes – West Derby Road, Vauxhall Road and Sefton Park.

A six-week public consultation will now begin and will run until September 9. Click here for information and a feedback form. The council will also hold events where people can ask questions. Click here for more information.

Last week Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Halton Council unveiled a new 9km cycle route. Costing £5.9m, the cycleway will link Bridge Street in Runcorn to the Sci-Tech Daresbury innovation campus.

This will include the construction of new crossings and upgraded junctions. It will also see the installation of more than 50 columns of LED street lighting. Work on the project could begin as early as August this year.

Liverpool City Council has also developed designs for a new cycle training facility at Everton Park, as part of the British Cycling “places to ride” programme. This facility would be the first of its kind in the city. It would offer an artificial road network for children to understand how to navigate different types of junctions.

Funding for this new phase comes from the European Union, the Department for Transport, Combined Authority and planning contributions from the city council’s Section 106 fund.

Simon O’Brien, walking and cycling commissioner for Liverpool city region, said: “Cycling is great for air quality and the environment. It is brilliant for our physical and mental health and wellbeing.

“But we shouldn’t just think of getting on our bikes as exercise. It is also a cheap and easy way to commute to work, travel to school or college and even pop to the local shops.

“To encourage more people to leave the car at home for short journeys we need to make cycling a really attractive option by building safe, separated routes. That’s why routes like the three new ones being planned around Liverpool are so important.”