Knowsley to invest £2m in cycling routes

The council is to sign off a cycling and walking project to link Prescot to Cronton via the planned Halsnead Garden Village.

The route will Cronton and Prescot via Stadt Moers Park, and will tie into out routes being brought forward by Halton Council, continuing into Widnes and the Trans Pennine Trail.

The major interventions include an on-road cycleway from the junction of Liverpool Road and Manchester Road through to Carr Lane in Prescot; a newly-constructed off-road cycle link between Carr Lane and Stadt Moers Park; and a cycle link between the park and Pottery Lane.

There will also be improvements to road marking and signage to existing cycle routes between Pottery Lane and Cronton Avenue in Whiston; cycle links between Foxes Bank Lane and Penny Lane in Cronton; and a further link from Penny Lane to Sandy Lane, also in Cronton.

Knowsley is now looking to tender for a design-and-build contractor for the scheme, which has been supported by a £1.6m grant from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

The route also passes through the proposed Halsnead Garden Village, set to provide 1,600 homes, 55.5 acres of employment land, a country park, a primary school, and community and leisure facilities.

The site covers 430 acres at the junction of the M57 and M62, to the south of Whiston, and historically formed part of the Halsnead Park estate.

The Combined Authority agreed a £12m grant to Knowsley Council for other access, including roads, in July this year. Knowsley’s cabinet is set to sign off the cycling and walking infrastructure funding at a meeting next week.