Work starts on The Strand improvements
Improvement works to The Strand between James Street and Water Street begin on Tuesday, 30th May, 2006 as part of the City Centre Movement Strategy, a £73 million programme of works to improve the roads and public areas of Liverpool, developed by partners Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision and Merseytravel.The £3m scheme, funded by Liverpool City Council and the NorthWest Development Agency, will be carried out in two parts, the first starting next week will take five months to complete including a break for the Mathew Street Festival, and the second will take place in 2007.
The normal contractor working hours will be from Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm. Where off peak working is specified this will be between 9.30am to 3.30pm. There will be occasional evening/night time works and the resurfacing works at the end of the scheme will be done during overnight closures.
Work begins in the central reservation between Water Street and James Street to change the layout and level of central reserve. This will be mean the closure of lane four, (next to central reserve), northbound for the duration of the phase, and off peak lane three, (next to central reserve), southbound closure, for approximately seven weeks.
The second phase for kerbing and footway works between Water Street and James Street on the northbound side will require the closure of lane one, next to the pavement for a month. The bus stop here will remain open during this time.
The third phase, lasting approximately six weeks, is for kerbing and changes to the road alignment from Water Street to James Street, requiring an off peak closure of lane one southbound, (next to the pavement), for the duration of this phase. The site will be closed down after this phase and made safe for the Mathew Street Festival and Cycle Tour.
The fourth phase is the resurfacing works which will be done with overnight lane closures, split into sections. The noisy works, such as planing off the old road surface, will take place between 7pm and 11pm with quieter works from 11pm to 6am. This will take just under a month to complete. The fifth phase is paving works and tidying up of the whole site for a week.
A sixth phase will run alongside phases one, two and three with works to allow right turn from the tunnel exit including kerbing and changes to central reservation, new signals installed. It will require off peak closures on north and southbound carriageways around tunnel exit. New advanced directional signage is also being installed as part of the scheme.
The gap in the central reserve at the end of Water Street will be closed during the middle of September. Signs will be erected on site to give two weeks notice of the exact date of the closure. Motorists using Water Street are advised to use other routes for travelling north of the city centre.
At the end of these works, there will also be a Supercrossing installed across The Strand at Water Street and Brunswick Street.
There will be a second programme of CCMS works on The Strand which is due to take place in 2007. This includes changes to the James St junction, the installation of new street lighting and the removal of the pedestrian footbridge across The Strand.
Councillor Peter Millea, Executive Member for Regeneration, said:
"These works are vital to improve this key route around our city centre. We apologise in advance for any disruption caused and we will be constantly monitoring the works to minimise any delays where possible."