Public consultation is set to start on a proposed new £19.3m bridge crossing the River the Mersey at Warrington aimed at relieving traffic congestion at Bridgefoot.

Warrington Borough Council’s Executive Board last night considered and ratified a report on plans to construct the new bridge highway improvement scheme and proposed traffic re-routing that will connect Chester Road to Centre Park.

The report requested formal permission to commence public consultation on the Centre Park Link scheme. Consultation will now start later this month and run through to December.

The project, part funded and enabled by Local Growth Funding, awarded via the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, aims to assist and improve traffic flow around Warrington, facilitate the construction of in excess of 500 new homes and further improve access to Centre Park.

Subject to a robust public consultation exercise and subsequent planning approval the project could commence in 2016 and be complete and operational in 2018.

The plan is to build a bridge that will span the River Mersey from the A5060 Chester Road to the north of Gainsborough Road across to the southern end of Centre Park.

Slutchers Lane will also be improved and integrated into the highway system which, along with complementary improvements to traffic routing in the town centre, will maximise the benefits of the scheme by removing as much traffic as possible from the heavily congested Bridgefoot Gyratory and Brian Bevan Island roundabout.

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