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First part of the Thornton Link Road is now Open
The first part of the new Thornton link road has opened today.
First photos of new road
The opening of the long-awaited link road between Thornton and Switch Island has been postponed until May after contractors blamed "weather problems" for the latest delay.
Known as the A5758 Broom's Cross Road or the Thornton to Switch Island Link road, the new 4.5km road will ease congestion in the Netherton area and reduce travel times between the M57, M58 and M62 motorways and Sefton.
Work on the £19.5million scheme began at the end of 2013 and was expected to be completed "soon after Christmas" but a spokesperson for Balfour Beatty has now confirmed the road will not open until May.
Take a drive down the new link road for the first time
The Jospice Walk the length of the link road has also been delayed until May 16th.
The delay was revealed after Thornton-based charity Jospice was forced to postpone a fund raising walk along the length of the new road which had been scheduled for Sunday, March 29. Sefton Council and Balfour Beatty have now offered Saturday, May 16 as a new date.
A spokesman for Balfour Beatty said: "Due to the weather problems with frost and rainfall, and to technical issues it is still not possible to complete sections of the road to a standard that would be acceptable to enable members of the public to use the road for the Jospice walk.
"The safety of the public is paramount and as such it has been decided to postpone the walk until close to the final completion of the road, when the road will be of a safe standard for all to use."
Pat Murphy from Jospice added: "It’s a shame we are having to set another date, but we have been working closely with Balfour Beatty regarding the completion of the road and fully agree and understand the reasons.
"We apologise to everyone who has already registered, but please do come along on Saturday, May 16, we look forward to seeing everyone and thank you for your understanding. The safety of everyone is most important on the day."
The scheduled walk will raise much needed funds for Jospice to help support their work in caring for local terminal ill people. A donation of £5 per person is asked to walk on the road, and everyone taking part will receive a special certificate to commemorate the day.
Any further enquiries about the construction of the road or the walk please contact Christine at Balfour Beatty on tsil.broomcrossrd@outlook.com To register for the walk go to www.jospice.org.uk
Sefton Council - New Link Road takes shape
Broom’s Cross Road (Thornton to Switch Island Link)
The works at Switch Island are essential to enable the new link road to connect into the junction and provide access on and off the new link to and from the M57, M58, A59 and A5036. The work is being done in a series of phases, in different parts of the junction. This means that different sections of the junction will be closed at various times to enable the works to take place safely.
Regular updates on scheme progress will be posted here, but if you would like to receive the updates directly by email, please contact us via tsil.broomscrossrd@outlook.com.
A map of the new link road and the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan prepared for the scheme and included in the full approval submission are available to download below.
A computer generated visualisation of the route was prepared for public exhibitions and is available on the Sefton Council YouTube channel.
The full cost of the scheme, including all the planning and design work is about £19.5m. The Department for Transport is providing £14.5m and the Council is funding the remaining £5m. The scheme is estimated to provide £140-200 million of benefits over the next 60 years, so it provides very good value for money.
Aerial view of the link Road
Story from Southport Visiter and Sefton Council
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