Liverpool flyover demolition to start next month
Demolition of the Churchill Way flyovers, found to be unsafe earlier this year, will begin in September with work being carried out over several weekends over the next two months.
The two roads, opened in the 1970s as part of Liverpool’s abandoned inner ring road scheme, will be knocked down after a review earlier this year found both were “no longer adequate to carry vehicles or pedestrians”. They have been closed since September 2018.
The flyovers link Lime Street to both Dale Street and Tithebarn Street, and run directly behind the city’s museums on William Brown Street. Remedial works were previously carried out in the 1980s, in 2005, and in 2013.
The demolition is expected to cost £6.75m and will be carried out by contractor Graham, working alongside engineer Amey Consulting.
Work to dismantle the flyovers will begin on Monday 2 September with the removal of three footbridges underneath the roads, used to access Liverpool John Moores University’s Byrom Street campus. This expected to take between two to three weeks.
The dismantling of the flyovers themselves will take place between Fridays and Sundays on the weekends of 6-9 September; 20-23 September; and 4-7 October. This will mean the Queensway Tunnel will be closed to Liverpool-bound traffic between 7pm on the Fridays to 6am on the Mondays; Wirral-bound traffic will be able to use the tunnel as normal.
Once the demolition is complete, alterations will be made to the highway layout around the Hunter Street, Byrom Street, and Queensway Tunnel entrance, to improve traffic and pedestrian movements.
Liverpool City Council’s highways team will also develop a detailed proposal to improve connectivity in the area, and alongside this a masterplan would be created to manage the land released by the demolition.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “The Churchill Way flyovers are a relic of a cancelled highways plan from half a century ago and given the overwhelming weight of evidence from independent experts about their safety, their removal was the only viable option. We simply have no choice but to take them down as soon as possible.
“This deconstruction is going to be a complex process. It cannot be done overnight and a lot of thought has gone into the methodology to ensure the inconvenience to city centre traffic and surrounding buildings is kept to a minimum – but people need to understand that this is going to cause a huge amount of unavoidable disruption.
“Detailed designs for junction improvements are also a key element in making the area a better experience for everyone, post demolition, and we will be working hard to keep all of our city centre stakeholders and the public informed at every stage of the dismantling and how the new traffic proposals will look.”
I will be starting a campaign to stop this destructive pattern. If we can’t stop this destructive pattern then accept the generic city which you’ll soon be complaining about.
By Bixteth boy
It’s a shame the things Joe actually says can’t be ghost-written. Sounds almost coherent.
By Mike
About time, it creates a visual barrier between the centre and the rest of the city to the north. Removing this will encourage much needed development in the area.
By Louis C
Fantastic news! But, by the way, this was not Liverpool’s ring road, this was an earlier 60s plan that included all the high-level walkways. The ring road was started in the 80s and the Waterfront and Leeds Street sections were completed. The sections through the Georgian quarter were sensibly aborted. The only other section that would have benefited us that was not completed was the section from Byron Street/Scotland Road to St. Anne’s Street. I am so pleased these redundant and intrusive structures are to be removed from our historic centre. Leeds Street is the arterial route, it’s extension to the cruise liners and the North Shore is also a sensible move.
I’m looking forward to seeing an ambitious masterplan for all the development sites released.
By Roscoe
It is a good marker to tell you that your entering the dreaded north liverpool.
By Anonymous
I accept that the flyovers look quite tired however, I would ask if the monies should be spent in other areas. We have numerous homelessness and poverty that needs addressing. Come on Mayor Joe look in the mirror and get a grip hey.
By Tony H