New Lime Street cycle lane opens with more key routes to follow across Liverpool

Work started on the Lime Street redesign in the Autumn of 2020; however, the scheme was marred with delays due to the pandemic and the contractor responsible for the improvements going into administration.

Now, after a long wait, work is finally complete and the £11 million overhaul to help connect cyclists to one of the busiest areas of Liverpool has been revealed.

Councillor Dan Barrington, cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “It’s been a really long and tough journey with a number of setbacks along the way. Really unfortunate, but it’s fantastic to actually finally see it.”

More cycle routes planned

It comes as the council launched a major public consultation to get views on improvements to three other cycle routes in Liverpool, in Sefton Park, Gateacre and Norris Green.

The three proposed permanent lanes will connect the East Lancashire Road, Gateacre and Sefton Park to the city centre and will ‘fill gaps’ in the existing network.

The proposals are vital to the city’s Active Travel programme and will feature new and improved footpaths and pedestrian crossing facilities.

Safer cycling in Liverpool

Simon O’Brien, cycling commissioner for Liverpool City Region, said: “This is not about getting rid of cars. It’s about people given the option of doing it in a different way. Time and time again, I’m told by people who aren’t quite as confident on a bike as me, ‘I would ride more if I felt safer doing so’.

“It’s about giving people the option to do that, and also, if you think about it as a motorist, basically, if half the people stuck in the traffic jam with you rode their bike instead, the traffic jam wouldn’t exist.

“So, that’s the point you give a little bit of road space over to bikes, you give a bit more space over to pedestrians, everyone has the option, and the mix gets better.”

Equating to 6km of continuous cycle routes, these new lanes will also connect to other new routes such as the Princes Avenue cycleway in Toxteth and will complement schemes such as Lime Street in the city centre.

Active Travel programme

This new £3m phase of the city’s Active Travel programme also includes improving 30 access points along the Liverpool Loop Line, which runs 16km through the town from Halewood to Aintree.

The city council has also developed designs for a new cycle training facility at Everton Park, as part of the British Cycling “places to ride” programme.

The six-week long consultation runs until Friday, September 9, with information and a feedback form available online at www.liverpool.gov.uk

It is expected the works will be complete by Spring 2023.