THE regional metro mayor and council have praised the planned impact that ongoing road ‘improvements’ will have.

This is despite the major disruption that the work on the A56 Chester Road, linking Warrington and Runcorn, is causing.

The £14.5million project will add footpaths and traffic lights and resurface sections of the A56 as part of the latest initiative for the East Runcorn Connectivity scheme.

The scheme is part of a wider plan to deliver 600km of walking and cycling routes across the six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region, which includes Halton.

As part of the investment, the Redrow housing development at Delph Lane will receive a new traffic light system and a new footpath to link the estate to Daresbury village.

The work will also remove various surface ridges near Sci-Tech Daresbury to allow for the resurfacing of the road from the Daresbury Hotel to Halton’s borough boundary with Warrington.

The funding for the work came from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – a pot of £710million set aside for major transport infrastructure projects across the Liverpool City Region.

Metro mayor Steve Rotherham said: “It is a key part of my plan to build a London-style, integrated public transport network that is faster, cheaper, cleaner, better connected and, crucially, gives people a quality and efficient alternative to driving their car.

“The more people we can encourage people to walk or cycle, particularly for short journeys, the faster we can hit our net zero targets, reduce congestion on our roads and improve the quality of air we breathe.”

Roadworks and traffic on Chester Road have been a long-standing issue in the area, and the council has said this will now be rectified thanks to the additional funding.

Halton Borough Council leader Cllr Mike Wharton added: “We are delighted to have secured this funding from the Liverpool City Region for much-needed improvements to this busy section of road for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

“The East Runcorn Connectivity scheme as a whole is providing safer, better-connected routes which will hopefully encourage residents to make healthier, more sustainable travel choices.”

Work on the northbound carriageway officially began on October 24, and this will be ongoing until March 2025, with vehicles in contraflow on the southbound carriageway.

After this, traffic will then be switched to the repaired side while work is carried out on the southbound side.

It is expected that the entire scheme will be completed by October 2025.

Halton Borough Council, which is overseeing the works, says it must be recognised that there will never be a good time to complete them.

A spokesman said: “It must be recognised that there will never be a good time to undertake these works as they impact on a major route into Halton and Warrington.

“Essentially, two lanes out of four are out of service, and the speed limit has been temporarily reduced from 70 mph to 30mph for safety reasons.

“This unavoidably reduces vehicle capacity on the A56. There will be temporary disruption to journey times, and some drivers will choose to use other routes on the public highway that are normally quiet.

“During the planning stages, night working was considered, but as the carriageway is being entirely removed it cannot be opened in the day time until work is complete.

“Working only nights would increase the overall project timeline significantly with no benefit and create noise for surrounding residents during hours of darkness.

“The completion of the work in smaller phases or sections was also considered, but this extended the project timescale considerably.”

The council also says the major maintenance work is ‘essential’ to maintain the resilience of the road.

Since the works started, it has held daily meetings with the contractor to review traffic management arrangements and it said that this will continue to be the case throughout the duration of the works.

“For any concerns about driver behaviour, for example speeding or ignoring signage directions or traffic orders, such as weight limits, these issues should be raised directly with the police, as the council does not have any enforcement powers to deal with these circumstances,” the council’s website reads.