Edge lane works begin

MAJOR improvement works to Edge Lane have begun on Edge Lane to install a new traffic management system as part of the area’s £350m redevelopment.

The work will lead to a stretch of Edge Lane reducing to a single carriageway for 12 months until February 2012. However, once complete the whole of Edge Lane will become a dual carriageway, reducing current bottlenecks.

Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Liverpool City Council cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: “Our ambitious plans for Edge Lane are progressing really well, and these works are a hugely important part of that work.

“They will create a long-term solution to congestion and create a safer and attractive route into Liverpool.

“We do appreciate that these works will inevitably cause delays for some, and we apologise in advance for that. However, it is impossible to bring about these massive improvements, which will benefit motorists for many years to come, without some short-term disruption.

Nick Kavanagh, the city council’s director for regeneration, said: “This is the final phase of a vital project which will transform what is the most important route into the city centre as well as the city’s link to the M62.

“These improvements are something that Liverpool people – and in particular the business community – have been requesting for decades, and we’re delighted that we are now making it happen.”

The Hall Lane roadworks, part of the £19 million Hall Lane Strategic Gateway scheme, will create a much improved route into the city from the east and also take traffic out of residential areas. The new section of road is called Low Hall, (from the Prescot Road/Low Hill junction), and Mount Vernon Road, (from West Derby Street to Edge Lane). Hall Lane itself will become an access only road and will be blocked off at both ends.

Access will be via Mount Vernon Green.