The Mersey Gateway will bring about much needed traffic relief for the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge and will lead the infrastructure investments required to deliver regeneration of Halton and the north west.
In pure transport terms, doing nothing is not an option – over 80,000 vehicles use the Silver Jubilee Bridge every weekday – ten times the number it was originally designed for.
This extra traffic puts the congested and ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge and the resilience of the regional road network under severe pressure. Major maintenance work is required on an ongoing basis to keep it operational, and the impact during closure, whether because of planned works or the increasing number of incidents, affects millions of people across the region.
The Mersey Gateway will ease the significant congestion currently experienced by users of the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge and provide a major strategic new transport route linking the Liverpool city-region, north Cheshire and the north west to the rest of the country.
The project is more than just a bridge – the regional economic strategy identifies Mersey Gateway as a transformational project. It is the catalyst that will connect communities and lead regeneration and investment throughout Halton and the north west.