Cabinet approves multi-million-pound funding to improve borough's road infrastructure

Article date: 23 October 2024

Allocated from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority's Sustainable Transport Scheme, a total of £12.048m has been awarded to St Helens Borough Council to deliver two major projects that will unlock the potential of significant housing and town centre regeneration developments.

£10m will go towards the Cowley Hill Link Road, which will support the redevelopment of the brownfield, former Pilkington Cowley Hill glassworks site that will deliver around 1,100 new homes and complimentary commercial/leisure facilities.

The new link road, which will run through the site, will also provide an alternative traffic route to St Helens town centre for longer-distance trips from the A580 East Lancashire Road, helping to relieve capacity pressures and ease congestion on alternative routes.

Meanwhile, £2.048m will be used to improve pedestrian and cycle facilities at a busy five-arm roundabout on the outskirts of St Helens town centre - where there is currently limited safe, controlled crossing provision - to boost access to places like St Helens Retail Park and The Totally Wicked Stadium, home of St Helens R.F.C. and now Liverpool F.C Women.

Welcoming the funding, which was first announced and agreed at a Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting last month, St Helens Borough Council Leader, Councillor Anthony Burns, said:

"This investment is a great example of how Devolution is benefitting areas like St Helens Borough, not only helping us deliver our regeneration plans but also helping us on our pathway to becoming a net zero carbon borough, allowing people to make more sustainable and healthier travel choices.

"These two transport projects will unlock significant regenerative developments while improving local accessibility to create a fairer society and help tackle the climate emergency."

Councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE, Deputy Leader of St Helens Borough Council and Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, added: "Having the correct level of road infrastructure in place is essential to achieving our ambitious plans when it comes to delivering more housing stock for the borough and a modern state-of-the-art town centre, so I'm delighted that we've been able to secure this funding which is down to our strong, positive and ongoing collaboration with colleagues at the Liverpool City Region.

"These particular projects open up so many benefits - from easing traffic congestion to introducing safe crossing points at what can be a difficult roundabout to navigate as a pedestrian or cyclist - helping us as a council achieve a key priority of supporting a strong, thriving, inclusive and well-connected local economy."

The Peasley Cross Roundabout project is to be delivered by St Helens Borough Council utilising the English Cities Fund (ECF) partnership and appointed construction contractor - with the Cowley Hill Link Road project delivered by the site's developer.

With funding now secured, works are expected to start in 2025.