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Powering ahead
with road revamp
LIVERPOOL City Council is
teaming up with Scottish Power on a major new scheme to upgrade Smithdown Road.
The Council is working with the utility
company to deliver a brand new carriageway, as part of an innovative
partnership.
Scottish Power is upgrading its supply with the installation of a
33kV cable along the length of Smithdown Road, from Yanwath Street
to Gainsborough Road. The work, which started on Monday, 24 September
2012, is likely to cause damage to the road, which is already in poor
condition.
Now, following negotiations with the City Council, Scottish Power
have agreed to contribute £180,000 towards the cost of repairing the
road. The Council is investing a further £320,000, meaning it can
drive forward with a £500,000 scheme to completely resurface the
carriageway.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor
Tim Moore, said:- “This is a great example of how, by working
together with our partners in the private sector, we can achieve
great things. Smithdown Road has needed these improvements for a
number of years, and I’m delighted that we will now be able to
deliver them.
We looked at the current state of the road and considered the
further damage likely to be caused by the utility works. We decided
that instead of just patching it up, we should explore how we could
deliver a new surface. Scottish Power were happy to come the table
and it’s great credit to them that they have agreed to assist with
the costs of the work.
As with any major road improvements and utility works, there will of
course be some disruption; but the short term pain will be followed
by long term gain for thousands of motorists, cyclists, businesses
and residents as we deliver a brand new carriageway which will last
for many years.“
The 6 week scheme will be carried out under extensive traffic
management. Smithdown Road will be reduced to one lane in each
direction for the duration of the works.
Residents and businesses have been notified by Scottish Power of the
works and advanced signage has been out to advise
motorists. The City’s network of variable message signs is also
being activated to advise people about the scheme.
Paul Newbrook, Senior Investment Engineer at Scottish Power, said:-
“The work we are carrying out will support growth and improve
the security of electricity supplies in the area for many years to
come. We are working closely with Liverpool City Council to inform the
local community of the scope of works and minimise disruption to
local residents and businesses. We look forward to working with the
Council on future projects in and around the Merseyside area.”
The start of the £500,000 Smithdown Road improvements comes
immediately after the completion of the £2.2 million upgrade to
Queens Drive. The City Council held off the start of the Smithdown
Road works until the Queens Drive scheme was completed, to avoid the
major disruption that would have been caused by extensive traffic
management on 2 major routes in the City. |
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10,000+
back Hillsborough Knighthoods call
MORE than 10,000 people have so far signed
e-petitions calling for key figures involved in the Hillsborough
cover up to be stripped of their Knighthoods.
Last week, Mayor Joe Anderson wrote to Sir Bob Kerslake, Chair of
the Honours Forfeiture Committee, calling for the honours for Sir
Irvine Patnick and Sir Norman Bettison to be revoked.
E-petitions are on the City Council website for people to back the
call and people can add their name by visiting:-
liverpool.gov.uk.
The petition calling for the removal of Sir Irvine Patnick’s
Knighthood stands at around 6,500, while approximately 4,000 are
calling for Sir Norman Bettison to be stripped of his Knighthood and
Queen’s Police Medal.
It comes after the Hillsborough Independent Panel revealed that
Patnick, the former MP for Sheffield Hallam, took the lead in
actively briefing the media with lies about the role and
responsibility of Liverpool FC fans at Hillsborough.
In his letter, the Mayor condemned him for a “vile and
appalling smear campaign” which has led to fans being
“vilified and stigmatised” to deflect criticism from South
Yorkshire Police and other authorities.
He requested that the Committee gives “urgent consideration to
the actions of the former MP which have brought the honours system
into disrepute and on the basis of the overwhelming misery that this
man has brought to the people of Liverpool.”
Sir Norman Bettison was previously a Chief Inspector and then
Superintendent at South Yorkshire Police at the time of the
disaster. The Independent Panel report highlights his production of
a video tape which sought to present Liverpool FC fans as being to
blame.
As well as calling for him to be stripped of his Knighthood and QPM
(Queen’s Police Medal), Mayor Anderson is demanding Liverpool John
Moores University remove his Honorary Fellowship.
He condemned Sir Norman for failing to show any remorse for his
actions and says he “does not think he is a person worthy of
any public honour or recognition, and especially not from the
institutions of the city of Liverpool.”
88 year old Southport man has died
in RTC
MERSEYSIDE Police have
confirmed that a 88 year old, man was killed in the fatal RTC on
Marshside Road in Southport on Tuesday, 25 September. The man has
been named as Kenneth Turner, from Southport. Emergency services
were called to Marshside Road at around 11.45am to a report of a
collision involving a white Ford transit van and a blue Honda jazz.
Paramedics attended and took the driver of the Honda, Kenneth
Turner, to hospital were he was later pronounced dead. The area was
cordoned off for examination and the vehicles removed from the
scene. An investigation into the full circumstances of the incident
is ongoing. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is asked to
call the Road's Policing Investigation Unit on:- 0151 777 5444 or
Crimestoppers, anonymously, on:- 0800 555 111. |
