Conflicting ideas have emerged about how best to solve Liverpool’s long-term congestion problems, with a bridge across the Mersey and a new tunnel among the bold proposals.
The recent demolition of the Churchill Flyover has added to the existing traffic issues in the city centre.
Mayor Joe Anderson says he is in favour of a multi-million pound bridge project spanning the river, according to a report in the Liverpool Business News Daily.
Speaking at Liverpool’s Hilton Hotel to the Downtown in Business group, Mr Anderson is quoted as saying: “I would love to see a bridge from the Garden Festival site to the Wirral.
“People might think that is too ambitious, but what did they think about the idea to build the Mersey Tunnels?
“The tunnels will be coming to the end of their natural lives at some point and we have to start thinking ahead. In a Chinese city you can look out of the window and see 20 bridges. Why can’t we have that kind of ambition when it comes to major infrastructure?”
In a separate scheme under review, the Liverpool City Region Report details the idea of a third tunnel under the Mersey to help create speedier journeys and better traffic flow for those travelling in and out of the city.
Twitter: Faye Wasilowski
Just spoken to Cllr Liam Robinson about the possibility of a new Mersey tunnel exit. Here is what he had to say… pic.twitter.com/mfVfoX9Zio
— Faye (@Faye_journa1) November 6, 2019
The report also states that a new tunnel would improve the air quality within the city.
Liverpool City Councillor, Liam Robinson, Chairperson of the Transport Committee, told JMU Journalism: “We might need to think about it if there is a significant overhaul in the tunnels. The report does factor in that we may need to consider those things in the future.”
However, he added the current Wallasey and Birkenhead Tunnels “do deliver the relevant capacity and are in a very good state of maintenance and operation at this moment in time”.
Cllr Robinson said: “We have highlighted if we needed to look at a completely new tunnel, you’re probably 30 years away from having to do a lot of that detailed work.
“Obviously, you would be talking about something that was in the hundreds of millions of pounds, if that is what is required.”