Mike Hall MP

Labour Party | Weaver Vale

Mersey (Second Crossing)

Mr. Mike Hall (Weaver Vale) (Lab): I hope that you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, pass on my thanks to the Speaker for granting this Adjournment debate on a subject that is of great importance to the economy of the north-west. I want to start by briefly examining the history of crossings over the River Mersey. There is some debate as to whether the Romans built a bridge over the Mersey between what is now Widnes and Runcorn, but there is no doubt that there was a fording place in the Warrington, South area in Roman times. In 1905, the transporter bridge was built. The current Silver Jubilee bridge—there is an argument over whether it should be called the Runcorn-Widnes bridge or the Widnes-Runcorn bridge; its nomenclature depends on which side of the river people live—was built in 1961, widened in 1977 and renamed the Silver Jubilee bridge.

For some time in our area we have struggled with extreme congestion on the Silver Jubilee bridge. In the early 1990s, the then hon. Member for Halton and I pursued the Transport Minister to see whether a new river crossing could be built, and a case study was commissioned in 1991 to determine whether that was possible. The resulting report confirmed that the bridge was congested, but argued that since it was of no strategic importance to the north-west, a second crossing should not be paid for out of public expenditure.

The Silver Jubilee bridge has a capacity of 65,000 cars a day. About 75,000 cars a day were using it in 1993 and the average is now more than 80,000 cars a day. Moreover, on some days last year, 92,000 vehicles used the bridge, so it is clear that it is severely congested. The Oscar Faber Report, published in 1997, concluded that by the 2016 between 115,000 and 150,000 vehicles might cross the bridge, which would be massively in excess of its current capacity. The report also concluded that that was a constraint, not only on the economy of Halton and north Cheshire, but of Merseyside and the greater north-west region.

When the then Secretary of State for Transport turned down our appeal on the basis that there was no strategic need for the bridge, he said that we might seek a local solution to the problem. We therefore set up a consortium of local authorities. Some 80 per cent. of the traffic that uses the bridge is not local; 40 per cent. goes straight through the borough and 40 per cent. ends or begins its journey in Halton. It is therefore clear that the congestion is not just related to the borough of Halton.

In 1995 Halton borough council became the lead member of a group of Merseyside authorities—Liverpool metropolitan borough council, as it then was, the councils of Wirral, St. Helens, Knowsley and Sefton, Warrington borough council, and Cheshire county council—which formed a consortium with Merseytravel, the local chambers of commerce, English Partnerships and Peel Holdings. The aim of the consortium was to devise a local solution to the problem. More recently, the North West regional assembly and the Northwest Development Agency have joined the consortium to give real impetus to the demand for a new crossing over the river Mersey.

Mrs. Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op): I agree with the important points that my hon. Friend makes about this being a regional matter, reinforced by the involvement of the Northwest Development Agency. Does he agree that it is of specific interest to the development of Liverpool and particularly the port of Liverpool? The movement of traffic and the prevention of congestion are critical to developing the port's trade, and the building of a second crossing would be an essential factor in achieving that.

Mr. Hall : My hon. Friend makes a valid point. I was not going to cover it, but she draws attention to the fact that the port of Liverpool is very important to the economy of the north-west. If we are to have a new crossing over the River Mersey, it will enhance the port, the economy of Liverpool and the wider region.

There are two tunnels under the River Mersey directly in the Liverpool area. The first crossing over the river is the Silver Jubilee bridge. There is a very local crossing in Warrington, South—in the town centre in Warrington. Anyone who has needed to travel through Warrington or Runcorn when Thelwall viaduct is closed will know just how unsatisfactory that is for any strategic access into the north-west. Then we have the Thelwall viaduct itself. A huge amount of money has been spent on dualling the viaduct, only for us to find out that the structures of one carriageway have been seriously corroded. Traffic is now restricted on the viaduct and will be for quite some time. For a 24-mile stretch of river, we have only three significant crossings. That is why another is essential.

In 1997, my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) and I continued to press the Government to consider the issue, so that we could take forward the ideas coming out of the new Mersey crossing consortium. We were able to persuade the Secretary of State for Transport to provide a £600,000 grant for a feasibility study of where the bridge might cross the River Mersey and what its impact would be in the local area and more widely in the north-west region. As a direct result of that money, we have a clear idea of where we want the bridge. Perhaps I can give a plug to Halton borough council. It has produced on a CD a powerful case for the new Mersey crossing. The CD is available free at the point of need. It explains in graphic detail the benefits of the crossing and shows in interesting diagrammatic form what the bridge will look like and where it will go.

The debate is about whether we should dual the Silver Jubilee bridge or go elsewhere. Clearly, the cheapest option would be to dual the existing structure, but that would have a severe environmental impact in the Dukesfield area of the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Halton, which covers Widnes. That option would not be acceptable. We want a better strategic route across the river. The local authority consortium has settled on a link from the Speke Road dual carriageway in south Widnes to the central expressway in Runcorn. That is a fascinating piece of the jigsaw puzzle, because it will provide a strategic link from the M56 to the M62, so creating another piece of improved infrastructure for our area as well as providing a significant crossing of the River Mersey.

The consortium did not stop at considering where the crossing should be. It decided that we needed a road bridge, but there was also the question of whether we could use the structure for something else. The structure is designed—I must read out this technical term—as a multiple cable-stayed bridge with a box structure providing the necessary stiffness. The structure will also provide the ability to use the lower deck for other modes of transport, such as a light railway. Merseytravel and Halton borough council are seriously considering that. They have declared that they are committed to extending Merseytram line 3 to Halton, and the bridge may be the way to enable that to go forward.
There are key benefits to providing a second crossing over the River Mersey. It will provide regional regeneration and better public transport. It will help business with better transport, and the links between Manchester and Liverpool and to Liverpool John Lennon airport will be greatly improved. It will also improve communications in the north-west. Traditionally, communications go east to west, but we want them to go north to south. It is very important for us to establish another strategic north-south communications route in the north-west.

Mr. David Watts (St. Helens, North) (Lab): My hon. Friend spoke about the benefits—for example, the links with Manchester—that can be derived from a second major river crossing for Liverpool. Does he agree that that is crucial for areas such as St. Helens because 90 per cent. of people who wish to cross the river from St. Helens use the Runcorn bridge?

Mr. Hall : Indeed, they do use the Silver Jubilee bridge. If the second bridge across the River Mersey is agreed, there will be implications beyond the road network for areas such as St. Helens. Both my hon. Friends the Members for St. Helens, North (Mr. Watts) and for St. Helens, South (Mr. Woodward) have rightly tabled questions on the issue. We must be alert to the possibilities for development north of the borough of Halton if the proposed crossing gets the go ahead.

The project will bring 3,350 permanent jobs and 1,600 temporary jobs to the area; it has a £15 million development value, and will have a return of £666 million, which is a sound economic investment in the region. Last summer, we were given a good nod from the Department for Transport in relation to the benefits that the scheme will bring. The consultants submitted their views to the Secretary of State and just before Christmas he gave the project "super work-in-progress" status, which was extremely well received in the area. It indicated that at long last we had been able to persuade the Government that the second crossing was essential.

However, several matters are still outstanding. The Government asked for an assessment of the impact that the traffic will have on the major highway networks, including the M6, the M56 and the M62, which is now under way, as is work on the hydrodynamic impact of the bridge on the River Mersey. The best and most effective ways of procuring the bridge and the procedural routes that need to be followed are being considered, and also whether tolling should fund the project.

I understand that the Government want us to consider whether the new bridge could be a toll bridge because every avenue of finance must be explored, but my view is that the bridge should be free to users. The Government are prepared to invest in crossings of the River Thames, of which there are 36—27 between Vauxhall and the M25 and nine between Tower bridge and Dartford—and they have just agreed to partly fund the new crossing over the Thames gateway. It is therefore not too much to ask them to fund the new crossing of the River Mersey. It has few strategic crossings, but the stretch of water is just as significant as that of the Thames.
My attention was brought to the significance of the river crossings when John Bell, a business development partner at Glenny, said:

"The question isn't so much 'should Thames Gateway Bridge be built?' but rather 'when?'. It will help to remove the physical barrier that the Thames creates for business investment and stimulate property development either side of the river, as well as easing congestion on the existing crossings which are at breaking point".

If the River Thames needs Government investment because bridges are congested in the London area and along the river, there is a strong case for Government funding towards a new crossing of the River Mersey.

The borough of Halton is listed at No. 14 in the 2004 deprivation index. It would boost the economy if we avoided imposing tolls for using the new bridge and ensured that there was no barrier to investment and economic development in the area.

Halton, as lead borough, and the consortium for the new crossing, will submit their plans to the Secretary of State for Transport in the autumn. I hope there will be a decision before the end of the year, giving the green light to go ahead with the project. Then the procurement procedures and the necessary legal processes to agree the line of the bridge, which includes holding a public inquiry, can be sorted out, and construction can begin in 2007. The sooner construction begins, the better. There are city of culture events in Liverpool in 2008 and it would be helpful if the infrastructure were in place by then. The area is of strategic importance in that respect. I know that that is a tall order, but we are looking forward to making real progress.

My hon. Friend the Member for Halton and I have worked extremely hard on the project. It is a tribute to the partnership of the new crossing consortium that we are now close to realising the dream of a new crossing over the River Mersey. Part of our contribution has been to invite successive Transport Ministers to Halton to see the problems. There have been a number of visits, including recently by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty). That was a seminal visit in the campaign to establish the case for going ahead with the second crossing of the River Mersey. I congratulate the consortium on the work that it has done under the leadership of Halton borough council.

I finish by summarising the case that I have tried to set out. The Silver Jubilee bridge is seriously congested, a situation that will only continue to worsen. The lack of a new crossing over the River Mersey is a continuing constraint on the economic health of our region. There is a strong strategic case for the construction of a new crossing of the River Mersey, for the reasons highlighted this afternoon. The preference is for a bridge that is free to users. It would be a sound economic investment with a guaranteed good return. It would also be a positive demonstration of the Government's commitment to strengthening the economy of the north-west. I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure us that the project remains high on the Government's list of priorities and that we can be confident that the scheme will go ahead.

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