Dozens of roads fixed and more than £30m secured for more improvements

6th March, 2022

Many major improvement schemes have taken place in the past year

St Helens Borough Council’s highways department has come in for high praise following the recent completion of a number of road resurfacing works.

Since the start of the last financial year, the council has carried out a total of 37 resurfacing schemes on roads across the borough to repair defects such as potholes and faded markings, with recent noticeable upgrades at Robins Lane, Baxters Lane, Reginald Road and Helena Road in Sutton.

Over the next few weeks, further resurfacing works are scheduled to take place in areas including Haresfinch View, Sherdley Road, A570 Rainford Bypass and A580 East Lancashire Road.

To allow the council – responsible for more than 480 miles of adopted highway – to continue delivering local improvement schemes on its roads, a funding package totalling more than £34.m was secured at a recent Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting as part of a City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement support package to upgrade the region’s roads.

Focussing on key corridors, the package includes a series of measures all designed to support public transport services, relieve congestion and improve air quality for local communities. This funding will be invested across the Borough over the next five years.

The measures also include carriageway resurfacing to improve the condition of the roads, drainage works to help prevent flooding and new street lights – with St Helens Borough Council set to publish a Highway Asset Management Strategy this summer on how the local authority can make the most of this funding.

Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Road users rightly expect to see the borough’s roads in the best possible condition and we as a council go to great lengths with the resources available to us to ensure our road network is maintained to as high a standard as possible.

“Throughout the year, our highways team works exceptionally hard around the clock to deal with issues on our highways to make sure they are safe, whether you drive, cycle or walk – and we will continue to invest in this vital asset as we look to create a well-connected, accessible transport network across the borough.”