Plans for the East Runcorn Connectivity Corridor, easing congestion and opening development sites, are moving to the next stage.

Halton Council’s executive will be asked next week to note progress made on the various parts of the plan.

A report published ahead of the meeting seeks approval to develop the ERCC transport scheme and add it to the council’s capital programme, reports Place North West.

Pre-development funding is available from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority on a competitive basis to work plans up.

The proposed ERCC scheme consists of four elements:

• A558 Daresbury Expressway, dualling from Pitts Heath Lane to Innovation Way, taking into account four structures and canal
• A56 major maintenance from Keckwick Lane to the M56 Junction 11 – new surface required due to poor condition
• Route options for a road connection between M56 Junction 11 and the A533, relieving congestion and opening up development sites
• Integrated active travel interventions to complement each component – a dedicated cycle “superhighway” from the Pitts Heath Lane junction to the existing A56 cycle corridor, linking Halton to Warrington.
• The A558 dualling scheme has been a longstanding objective of the council and as such is included in Halton’s Local Transport Plan 3.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide network capacity for the planned growth In East Runcorn at Sandymoor, Sci-Tech, Manor Park and adjacent developments.

The report recommends that the council actions an initial programme covering technical investigations to inform options appraisal and scheme feasibility.

Mott MacDonald, which is expected to be awarded further work on the project, has already worked on a study on sustainable transport for East Runcorn, and the city region’s transport model of which the Halton model is part.

A proposal has been submitted to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to access four years of pre-development funding to ensure that a robust business case can be developed, which that meets the Government’s green appraisals mechanisms and LCR’s transport growth strategy objectives.