A new bridge across the River Mersey between Runcorn and Widnes.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond recently gave the green light for up to £470 million of funding for a new bridge across the River Mersey between Runcorn and Widnes.

The new dual three-lane bridge and associated link roads will form a major new transport route improving links between the Liverpool City region, north Cheshire and the wider North West to the rest of the country. It will also ease the significant congestion currently experienced by users of the Silver Jubilee Bridge, reducing journey times by up to 10 minutes at peak times.

Construction of the new bridge – known as the Mersey Gateway Bridge – is expected to begin in 2013 and is due to be open for traffic in 2016. The construction cost (including land) is around £600 million which the Department for Transport (DfT) will support with a mixture of capital grant and revenue funding for the bridge’s continued operation.

The existing Silver Jubilee Bridge, located 1.5 miles to the west of the planned bridge, will be converted into a local traffic bridge with priority for buses and improved conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. There will be toll charges for those using both crossings to help fund a significant proportion of the scheme. The funding provides for discount schemes, which would be prioritised for local and regular users.

Philip Hammond said: “The Mersey Gateway Bridge is an important transport project which will improve journeys and boost economic growth. We have already committed to support local transport schemes across England to the value of £870 million in the current spending review period, with a further £650 million worth of schemes expected to be funded in December. This means we will have invested £1.5 billion on improving local transport across the country in the current spending review period.”

Steve Nicholson, Director, Mersey Gateway Project, said: “This agreement represents the best possible deal for the public purse and means that we can focus on delivering a project that will bring benefits to local people, commuters and businesses from across the region.”