St Helens set for multi-million-pound investment to improve sustainable travel

Article date: 20 September 2024

At a Combined Authority meeting this afternoon (Friday 20 September) £10m was approved for the development of a spine road and junction improvements that will support new active travel routes to serve the new planned residential and commercial development at Cowley Hill. In addition, the borough will also benefit from a £2m allocation to improve pedestrian crossings at the five-arm roundabout on Parr Street.

These schemes are necessary to improve access to the new and regenerated St Helens town centre and form part of a wider £57m investment package from Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotherham, to make walking and cycling safer and easier across the region, providing residents with an active alternative for their daily commutes or exercise to encourage a healthier lifestyle.

 Meanwhile, when St Helens Borough Council's cabinet meet at St Helens Town Hall next week (Wednesday 25 September) senior councillors will be asked to consider accepting £34m of grant to deliver the new Multi-Modal Transport Interchange - a key part of the once-in-a-life-time regeneration of St Helens town centre.

This significant funding will build state- of-the-art facilities and ensure that the town centre can meet long-term future public transport needs, provide improved facilities for passengers and bus operators - and be equipped with charging facilities that will support the council's net zero target.

The funding award also includes a £2.7m grant to create a new temporary bus hub, with enabling works having already started and progressing well onsite at Chalon Way. This temporary bus facility will ensure that the town centre remains open and accessible when construction starts in earnest on the Phase One town centre regeneration works.

Councillor Anthony Burns, Leader of St Helens Borough Council and LCRCA Cabinet Member for Net Zero, commented: "Devolution is key to the continuing growth and success of our borough as a direct result of the council's partnership in the Combined Authority. It's great to see that continue with this latest commitment of funding which will have a significant positive impact on our ambitious regeneration plans for St Helens town centre and unlock housing development in the borough - ensuring the appropriate level of green infrastructure is in place, whether you walk, cycle or use public transport. 

"This investment not only helps us to deliver our regeneration plans but also helps us on our pathway to becoming a net zero carbon borough, helping people to make more sustainable and healthier lifestyle choices."

Councillor Richard McCauley, St Helens Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Inclusive Growth and Regeneration, added: "Funding opportunities like this are only possible through the strong, positive and ongoing collaboration we have with our colleagues at the City Region which helps us achieve the objectives of our regeneration and growth priorities.

"Most importantly, it ensures that we are delivering inclusive growth that creates a fairer society, responds to the climate emergency and helps deliver the transformational changes in St Helens that I know residents and businesses are desperate to see."

The new Multi-Modal Transport interchange - which is expected to be operational by 2026 - is just one element of the first phase of the £150m regeneration of St Helens. The wider plans will transform 24-acres of the town centre with a new Market Hall, flanked by a mixed-use area set around a 120-bedroom globally branded hotel, 64 stunning new homes, and 11,000 sq. ft of modern retail space, along with extensive high quality public spaces.