£1.950m needed to develop major transport schemes

TOWN Hall chiefs at Warrington are being asked to approve the spending of £1.950 million during the coming year on detailed development work on three major transport schemes supporting the creation of 1,700 jobs and the building of 570 new homes.
The borough has already secured funding from the Local Growth Fund (LGF) for the three schemes – Warrington East Phase 2,  Omega Local Highways Phase 1 and Warrington Sustainable Travel.
Each scheme was at a relatively stage of development at the time of submission to the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) – and each has a crucial role to play in the town’s regeneration strategy.
They will help secure Warrington’s future as a major driver of economic growth in the Atlantic Gateway and in the North West generally, according to Cllr Hans Mundry, the council’s lead member for highways and transportation in a report to be considered by the executive board next week.
Warrington East Phase 2 comprises improvement to College Place roundabout, a second phase of iprovements to the Oakwood Gate junction, a new bus gate to improve access to Woolston Grange and partial widening of Birchwood Way north of the Moss Gate junction.
Omega Local Highways Phase 1 includes a Major junction improvement at Lingley Green Avenue/Omega Boulevard.
The third project is a share of the Joint Cheshire and Warrington Sustainable Travel project which will help  to deliver a new shared pedestrian and cycling route from Burtonwood to Omega, enable improvements on the Trans-Pennine Trail and a promenade route along the Mersey adjacent to Chester Road, linking the Trans- Pennine Trail to the town centre.
In addition to the new jobs and homes, it is estimated the borough will benefit from an increase in business rate of £276,000 a year and £3.04m new homes bonus over four years.
Each scheme will tackle critical congestion points on the Warrington highway network, improve traffic flow and offer improve facilities for walking and cycling.
The council’s indicative future contribution of £5.743m amounts to 26 per ce3nt of the total cost of £22.503m – excellent value for moneyh for the delivery of such significant infrastructure improvements, according to Cllr Mundry.
He says: “The proposals are supported by local business leaders and Warrington Borough Transport. Public consultation will be undertaken during 2017/18 to ensure there is public support for the schemes.”