Rimrose Valley bypass: Plans for new road delayed over costs

The current A5036 is heavily congested with traffic

A £250m bypass planned to go through a Merseyside country park has been put on hold until at least 2025.

A proposal for a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley was first announced in 2017 to improve access to the Port of Liverpool.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said the project faced "environmental challenges", design changes and supply chain price hikes.

Local campaigners said the "disastrous" plan should be cancelled completely.

National Highways, previously known as Highways England, wants to build the new road to bypass congestion in Litherland on the A5036 between the Switch Island Interchange and Princess Way.

'Rocketing costs'

The A5036 Port of Liverpool Access Scheme was included in the government's Roads Investment Strategy for the period 2020-2025.

However, due to "environmental challenges and ongoing design changes to ensure stakeholders' views are fully considered", Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it had now been pushed back into the five-year period of 2025-2030.

He said the government was still committed to transport projects, describing them as an "engine for sustainable economic growth", but he blamed the ongoing war in Ukraine for pushing up costs.

"We can't ignore the current realities," he said. "Putin's war in Ukraine has hiked up inflation, sending supply chain costs rocketing."

The Rimrose Valley bypass was proposed to ease congestion on the A5036

Hundreds of locals have protested against the bypass plans and believe the project should be scrapped.

Local resident Stuart Bennett of the Save Primrose Valley campaign said: "We welcome the news that this disastrous road proposal has been pushed back, yet again.

"However, if the transport secretary is serious about considering stakeholders' views and the road's environmental impact, he must surely cancel it completely."

Protesters were joined by MPs as they marched to the Port of Liverpool in 2021

The Port of Liverpool authority said the current road was "important for hundreds of businesses and thousands of people" who depend on the port but in fact "private vehicles make up the majority of the traffic on the route".

A spokesman added: "National Highways, Sefton Borough Council, businesses and the local community need to work together to find ways of successfully managing transport in the area."

They added the port would try to reduce the impact of transporting cargo as well remaining a vital source of employment for local people.