Major plans for Everton's 'transformational' Bramley-Moore Dock stadium

With the new, state-of-the-art grounds able to hold around 13,000 more fans than Everton’s current home, Liverpool City Council has proposed a raft of measures to manage congestion.

Plans for a fan management zone at Sandhills - the nearest Merseyrail station to Bramley-Moore Dock - were approved earlier this week, with the waiting area specifically designed to accommodate and safely manage passengers making use of train services at the end of football matches and other major events.

Located on land owned by Merseytravel adjacent to the station, passengers will enter the zone via Sandhills Lane, which will be closed to traffic during stadium events in excess of 10,000 people. Works on the first phase is due to start on site ‘imminently’.

Now, Liverpool City Council has revealed plans for a new parking zone within a 30-minute walk of the new stadium, which will encompass the surrounding Ten Streets district and into the city centre.

Similar to what is in place around Goodison Park and Anfield, the council says the overall aim of the new parking zone is to “reduce congestion, improve air quality, safety and journey times to and from the stadium.”

A series of recommendations, which have been subject to a public consultation, includes:

• New resident parking areas
• New taxi ranks
• New match day bus stands
• New parking restrictions
• New hours of operation for existing parking zones for the Great Homer Street area
• New hours of operation for existing parking zones for the Ten Streets and Love Lane areas
• New industrial parking zone south of Boundary Street
• New industrial parking zone north of Boundary Street

The council has already invested more than £20m in the highways infrastructure around Bramley-Moore Dock, including a permanent segregated cycle lane running from the city centre up to Liverpool’s northern border at Bootle in Sefton, which passes right in front of the new stadium

Councillor Dan Barrington, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Connectivity, said: “Everton Stadium is going to be transformational especially for the surrounding Ten Streets district and the wider Kirkdale community. As well as the economic benefit, the vast volume of people the stadium will attract – and how they arrive and depart – needs to be carefully managed.

“The North Docks area has never had to cope with such large numbers of people in such concentrated time periods, but fortunately the city has the experience and knowledge thanks to Goodison Park and Anfield. By creating this new match day parking zone, we’ll be looking to adopt and incorporate those controls which so effectively move tens of thousands on a weekly basis.”

He continued: “Bramley-Moore Dock is also a unique location given its very close proximity to the city centre and the fact the surrounding transport infrastructure is well developed. There’s more to be done but all the partners are talking to make those improvements.

“We’ll also be looking to encourage as many active travel options as possible for those attending the games or other events there, which is a win-win for everyone in terms of managing congestion and air quality and promoting healthy habits.

“There’s lots of residents and businesses, as well as Everton fans, who will be affected by these proposals and thanks to their feedback we’ve been able to formulate a plan which aims to accommodate their needs.”

If the proposals are approved next week, Liverpool Council’s Highways and Transportation team will begin the process of installing new signage towards the end of the year. Residents and surrounding businesses will also be invited to apply for the relevant parking permits.