From 9.30am on Monday, March 18, Waterloo Road and Regent Road will completely close to traffic Paisley Street and Blackstone Street to allow for essential upgrade works. Tony McDonough reports
A major section of Liverpool’s historic ‘Dock Road’ will close for four weeks from this week as a key phase in its upgrade will begin.
From 9.30am on Monday, March 18, Waterloo Road and Regent Road will completely close to traffic Paisley Street and Blackstone Street to allow for drainage repairs, carriageway resurfacing and critical utility works.
Traffic flowing to and from Liverpool city centre will be diverted to use Great Howard Street (A565). Once this phase is over this key section of the dock road will be completed with the scheme entering the final six months of an 18-month programme.
The next critical phase in the scheme, which began in March 2018, will see works to the route north of Bramley Moore Dock begin later in the spring, which include a new cycle way connecting Liverpool city centre to Sefton.
The works are being financed with money from the Local Growth Fund, awarded to the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and invested through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through its Strategic Investment Fund.
This overall package of road improvements in the north Liverpool area is worth more than £100m and is a key element of Liverpool City Council’s £500m Better Roads programme.
The North Liverpool corridor upgrade, which will complete this autumn, is seen as crucial to the development of surrounding major regeneration schemes such as the Ten Streets creativity district and Everton FC’s proposed new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock and Peel Land and Property’s £5bn Liverpool Waters scheme.
Cllr James Noakes, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “The North Liverpool corridor is a hugely complex highways scheme involving an immense amount of engineering works on two major roads at the same time.
“To ensure traffic flows this scheme can only be carried out by a phased approach which means some weeks there are full road closures and some weeks just lane closures. We really appreciate the patience of motorists as these essential works are carried out.
“Fortunately there are other alternative routes and with this key stretch of the Dock Road complete after this phase we can all begin to see the finishing line and a vastly improved journey in and out of North Liverpool.”