Liverpool City Council has chosen three contractors for the next phase of the Highways Investment Programme (HIP), worth £11m. The council’s Transportation and Highways department and delivery partners will upgrade over 29 roads through an eco-friendly maintenance program. Dowhigh will manage the ten schemes in the north, Huyton Asphalt Civils will handle the 11 schemes in the central district, and Tarmac Trading will implement the eight schemes in the south. HIP Central phase 2 construction has already begun, and design and site investigations are underway for HIP North and South, with construction set to begin in late 2023 or early 2024.
Key roads to be updated include Priory Road and Townsend Lane in Anfield and Princess Drive and Finch Lane in Yew Tree, as well as Alderfield Drive and Alder Wood Avenue in Speke. The council delivered 70 schemes as part of the initial Highways Investment Programme, worth a total of £19.425m, to date across 2022 and 2023. Key roads that were completed include Altcross Road and Bull Lane in the north, Larkfield Road and Aigburth Vale in Central, and Banks Road and Mersey Road in the south.
The HIP programme has been designed to enhance the environmental footprint of highways construction. In phase one, 68 tonnes of CO₂ emissions were saved through de-carbonisation methods. By partnering with specific recycling programs, a significant focus on recycling has saved 3,171 tonnes of hard-to-recycle waste from ending up in landfill or being incinerated. Phase one also includes roughly 100,000m²+ of new carriageway plane and inlay resurfacing and 100+ new tactile crossing installations for better accessibility. Contracts worth £1,233,605 with local micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) and £2,101,400 investing into the local supply chain as a result of contracts were approved. Approximately £960k was invested in surface treatment using micro-asphalt throughout the city’s 40 sites, providing 163 weeks of apprenticeships. A recruitment initiative has enabled 19 individuals who have been unemployed for more than a year not to be in employment, education, or training (NEETs).
Councillor Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, stated that he is pleased with the appointment of contractors for the next phase of the Highways Improvement Programme. They are all experienced firms with a proven track record of delivery in the region, and the local supply chain will benefit significantly from this investment, as was the case in phase one. Although some programmes will begin immediately, disruption is expected, but the long-term benefits for our communities will be worth it by providing safer roads for everyone to use. He added that the teams learned a lot in the first year of the HIP’s implementation, but this would undoubtedly aid in improving the delivery of these new projects. He is overjoyed with the carbon reduction achieved in the HIP and the contractors’ mentality of joining in the commitment to attain net zero. The council is investing heavily in more active travel solutions, but where people need to use a car, they will make the roads more environmentally friendly for upkeeping the highways
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