Liverpool City Council has appointed three contractors to deliver the next phase of its Highways Investment Programme (HIP).

The Council’s Transportation and Highways team and their delivery partners are now progressing with the upgrade of more than 29 roads, through an £11m eco-friendly maintenance programme, which will see the delivery of:

•           10 schemes in the north of the city – delivered by Dowhigh

•           11 schemes in the central district of the city – delivered by Huyton Asphalt Civils

•           8 schemes in the south of the city – delivered by Tarmac Trading Ltd

Construction on HIP Central phase 2 has begun whilst design and site investigations are currently being undertaken for HIP North and South, with construction works set to commence late 2023/early 2024.

Key roads to be upgraded include: Priory Road and Townsend Lane in Anfield; Princess Drive and Finch Lane in Yew Tree and in Speke, Alderfield Drive and Alder Wood Avenue.

Their appointment follows the successful delivery of 70 schemes as part of the initial Highways Investment Programme that has been delivered to date across 2022 and 2023, which saw £19.425m invested in in highways infrastructure.

Key roads completed to date 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 improve the environmental footprint of highways construction and in phase one, 68 tonnes of CO₂ emissions were saved through de-carbonisation processes.

And a huge focus on recycling has meant that 3,171 tonnes of hard to recycle waste has been diverted from landfill or incineration through specific recycling partnerships.

Other highlights of phase one include:

• Approx’ 100,000m²+ of new carriageway plane and inlay resurfacing.
• 100+ new tactile crossing installations for improved accessibility.
• £1,233,605 investment through contracts with local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
• £2,101,400 investment into the local supply chain through contracts.
• £960k invested in approx’ 45,000m² of micro asphalt surface treatment city wide across 40 sites.
• 163 weeks of apprenticeships completed during the year, or supported until completion in Level 2, 3 or 4+.
• 19 individuals hired who were long term unemployed (> 1 year) as a result of a recruitment programme who are not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEETs) as a result of a recruitment programme.

Councillor Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “I’m delighted we’ve appointed the contractors to deliver this next phase of our highways improvement programme.

“They are all experienced firms with a long track record of delivery in the city region, and the local supply chain will benefit greatly from this investment – as they did in phase one.

“Some schemes will begin immediately and we know this will mean disruption, but the long term gains for our communities will be worth it, with safer roads for everyone to use.

“We said the first year of HIP wouldn’t be perfect but the teams achieved and learnt a huge amount, and this will certainly help improve how we do deliver these new schemes.

“I’m also thrilled at the carbon reduction achieved in the programme and the attitude of our contractors to join us in our commitment to achieve net zero.

“There’s more we can do, which is why we’re heavily investing in more active travel solutions but where people need to take the car we’re making our roads a more environmentally-friendly solution to upkeeping our highways.”