Lime Street overhaul begins

Contractor NMCN has started work on a year-long, £9m upgrade of the Liverpool road to make it more suitable for pedestrians and cyclists and create a more attractive gateway to the city.  

Lime Street is to be reduced to a single carriageway in each direction, under the plans designed by infrastructure firm Amey and Liverpool City Council’s highways department.  

The project involves adding a cycle lane and severing the northbound lane at the junction of Hanover Street, outside the Adelphi Hotel. 

The Lime Street revamp will also see a widened, boulevard-style pavement running the entire length up to the Adelphi Hotel, which sits within the newly branded Upper Central gateway leading to the city’s Knowledge Quarter. 

The designs feature the installation of a water feature at the southern end of the St George’s Plateau, which lies within the city’s World Heritage site. 

BCA Landscape helped to design of the public realm.

The Lime Street revamp will change the way bus services work in the city centre. During the project, all but a limited number of routes will terminate at either Queens Square or Liverpool One bus station, the council said.

The Strand Upgrade

The neighbouring The Strand upgrade project will cost £22m

These changes will then allow the city’s newly created bus hub on Old Haymarket to become fully operational. 

The Lime Street upgrade is part of a wider, £47m project to improve roads and accessibility in Liverpool city centre. 

The Liverpool City Centre Connectivity programme, which focuses on re-engineering routes in and out of the city’s commercial and retail districts, has already led to changes to Victoria Street, Dale Street, Brownlow Hill, and the removal of the Churchill Way Flyover. 

Another key element is the redesign of The Strand on the waterfront. Work has begun on the £22m project, which includes a new cycle lane to connect the north and south of the city. The Strand upgrade is expected to complete in next summer.  

The programme aims to boost transport links and further fuel Liverpool’s international appeal to investors, shoppers and tourists, the council said. The city’s visitor economy is currently valued at £3.6bn a year.

Cllr Sharon Connor, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “For millions of people, Lime Street is the gateway into Liverpool and we want to provide them with a world-class welcome. 

“A new public square outside Lime Street station and an expanded plateau at St George’s Hall will transform the experience of arriving in Liverpool and how people interact with arguably the UK’s greatest collection of iconic cultural venues.”  

Simon O’Brien, cycling commissioner for Liverpool, saidAs people arrive into Liverpool, they will now be able to step off the train and walk or cycle from the station into the heart of the city with ease and comfort.  

“It is a real statement from Liverpool City Council, and the hub of a new network that will spread out to all corners of our region.” 

Your Comments

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Looks gorgeous. Compare this to the area around Piccadilly ha ha ha

By Liverpool Romances

With this and the strand plus other ‘”improvements” it will be intetesting to see how the traffic flow moves one way or another. Judging by the last couple of days queues it could take a long time to circumnavigate the city centre.

By Man on a bicycle

No problems with the scheme but the Council has left this area to rot for years. Do we really want yet more road works in the City Centre, the endless jams on The Strand are too much as it is.

LL

By Liver lad

What Simon?for Hanover St I think they mean Ranelagh St? Clearly a few people where on some ‘substances’ when they decided about reducing The Strand, so they can join up another cycle lane to the one on the Dock rd…that isnt used!!! I am in favour of good urban space design and greening up the place; but if they keep insisting on narrowing roads for the use of non-used cycle lanes and wide footpaths; people arent going to bother coming in the first place.

By Anonymous

Why don’t they forget the train and cycle all the way up from where ever they come from.
To qoute S O’B from a recent presentation “Why am I angry?”, Goodness knows, but if you own a car forget about coming into town, take all your shopping and family on your crossbar.

By on yer bike!

Wonderful, more and more empty offices and shops, more space for the e scooters.
Liverpool has become a nightmare for tax paying motorists and businesses are paying the price.

By MFH

All you need is a breakdown or incident on the Strand or Lime Street when both schemes are finished and see what ensues

By Wait for it.

The dock road cycle lane is a disgrace. Dirty, pollution to the max, bits of metal and other bits of scrap littering it. And it’s not even finished (with no indication it ever will be).

The council speak as if they are expert spenders who know exactly what they are doing. That may well be the case, but the results speak for themselves that they are no experts in public realm and road design.

By Mike

Mike, Labour councils are always expert spenders of other people’s money, look at Manchester.

By MFH

Manchester is the only region outside London that pays it’d way

By Dan

A gorgeous civic space at St. George’s Plateau, and a ‘ramblas’ like Barcelona on the Strand. Go Liverpool…! A world-class destination before all this, the city will be in a different league when all this is complete.

By Red Squirrel

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