New £7.6m link road will provide access from Waterloo Road to the £30m facility in Princes Half Tide Dock which is due to begin operation in 2021. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool Council is set to award a £7.6m contract to build a road link for the new Isle of Man ferry terminal and the deal will include a provision to use local sub-contractors and take on apprentices.
Following a Europe wide procurement process, a report to the council’s cabinet on Friday, September 28, is recommending the contract for the scheme be awarded to provide access from Waterloo Road to the £30m facility in Princes Half Tide Dock.
Liverpool Waters
The new road and ferry terminal will lie within Peel’s Liverpool Waters scheme.The cabinet report follows the Isle of Man Government’s announcement that it has now completed negotiations with Peel for the long-term leasehold ownership of the site, with the new terminal scheduled to open in 2021.
On cabinet approval the highways contractor will be formally appointed and then head of terms will be signed with Peel to lease the land to the council for the construction of the road.
The contract has been funded by the the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through its Single Investment Fund.
Labour market
As part of the tender, the winning company will provide apprenticeships to the local labour market and source Liverpool firms in their supply chain as part of the Mayoral pledge to support the city’s economy through council contracts.
The new link road is part of the second phase of the wider £45m Liverpool city centre connectivity scheme, which includes the construction of a second waterfront link road.
Located closer to the northern fringe of the city centre, this road has been designed to ease congestion and provide general public transport improvements and to support the relocation of city council’s forthcoming new cruise terminal at the nearby Princes Dock.
The second new link road will provide a connection between the existing Bath Street/Princes Parade/Waterloo Road junction and the new signalised junction at Leeds Street/Great Howard Street.cil’s £500m Better Roads programme to invest in the city’s highways network.
Cruise facility
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “The road’s core function of is obviously to support the new ferry terminal but it will also bolster the wider development of the Liverpool Waters scheme and we are grateful to Peel and the city region combined authority for their support in this scheme.
“Along with the second link road, which will cater for our new cruise facility, the city centre connectivity scheme is beginning to take shape and with each element another big step is taken towards future proofing our economy.”