RUNCORN 2000

A new link road is being created on the Expressway, giving motorists direct access to the shops.

A new development is about to be announced on the old Crosville site - and the owners of Chapel Street have plans for out-of-town commercial use, similar to the DIY stores in Widnes.

Around £60 million will have been spent by the time the seven-year SRB project is completed.

This week, the World spoke exclusively to SRB manager Ian Grady about the ambitious scheme which is already taking shape.

"It is very exciting," he said. "The principle is that it will still be Runcorn. We are not going to change the face of it. It will maintain its market town character.

"We have been talking to shopkeepers, market traders, businesses and local people. A lot of their comments have helped to build the plan.

"They all recognise that something has to be done."

Work has started on the £450,000 extension to Mersey Road, creating a new link into Dukesfield.

Plans to transform the town centre will be discussed by councillors this month.

A new extended car park is now open at St Paul's health centre, clearing the way for work to begin on revitalising the town centre.

A new bus station is being built on the existing rose garden. Work is to begin in the second week of January and should be completed by April.

The busway and subway will be demolished in May as construction work starts.

A new food store is to be built in Lock Street with six to 10 retail units.

The market hall will be bulldozed to make way for a new outdoor market with a new town square being created on top of the old subway.

Once planning permission is granted, an architect will be appointed.

Halton Council is still in talks with three food retailers, who, it is understood, already trade in Halton.

The name of the chosen foodstore and the other retailers is expected to be announced by Christmas 1998.

"By Spring, we will have 3-D models," said Ian Grady. "There will be detailed visual models so people will be able to see what it is going to look like.

"Once building starts, people will see it all coming together.

"There has been so much planning, it is only now that things are starting to happen that people realise the extent of the improvements."

The CCTV cameras, which are soon to be installed in the town centre, will give shoppers more security and, it is hoped, reduce crime and vandalism.

Miller Homes are expected to be on site soon in Dukesfield.

where they plan to build 24 new houses and 12 bungalows.

Refurbishment work on properties owned by housing associations has been taking place for some time.

Houses earmarked for demolition have been boarded up.

The new traffic light junction on the expressway has already been designed. The tender is expected to go out in October 1998.

Work is due to start in February 1999 and be completed by October 1999.

"The new link road from the expressway will make a big difference to people's perception," said Ian Grady. "A lot of people who drive past don't even know there is a town here.

"There will be big signs leading people into the Old Town.

"With all the new developments, they won't be able to miss it."

An estimated 320 new jobs have already been created during the first two years of the SRB programme.

After a year of meticulous planning, various community projects were set up during 1997.

A foyer in Alcock Street was refurbished by Halton YMCA as an outreach centre.

Synergy, offering health advice to young people, opened in Church Street.

The Careers Guidance Partnership opened a new training and careers advice centre for young people in High Street.

The old police station in High Street was extensively refurbished to create the Halton Partnership Centre. This is used by various voluntary and community groups.

A terrace of new sheds have also been built in the docklands to provide accommodation for new industries. These premises also set the boundary for the proposed new £15 million Halton College campus.

Halton Council hopes a £9 million arts centre and theatre, on the canal, beside St Paul's health centre will form the final piece of the new look town centre.

Their first bid for lottery funding was rejected. Councillors hope to make a revised submission.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.