Six week project at busy junction

MAJOR improvement works are to start at one of Warrington town centre’s busiest junctions – and will take up six weeks to complete.
Traffic hold-ups will be inevitable while work goes on at the junction of Crosfield Street and Sankey Street – but a series of night-time closures are planned to minimise disruption while new traffic management facilities are installed.
The project is due to start on October 12.
Necessary replacement of the now old traffic signals at the busy intersection has presented the borough council with an opportunity to provide controlled pedestrian crossing facilities across two arms of the junction – easing the way for around 2,000 pedestrians who cross the road at this point every day, helping to make the crossing safer.
The effect of the changes will be monitored and fed into design work for a second phase of improvements which is expected to take place next year.
In the longer term, improvements to the junction will be necessary for the council’s “Golden Gardens” project, which envisages a new “gateway” to the town, linking Bank Quay and Central railway stations through a transformed Bank Park.
This multi-million £ project, announced earlier this year, aims to make the rundown park into one of the finest town centre parks in the UK, improving the setting of the Town Hall, redeveloping the Garven Place clinic site and revitalising Sankey Street.
At the time, Coun Bob Barr, executive member for planning and regeneration, (pictured) said the project would provide a new “gateway” to the town centre, reviving the western end of Sankey Street.
The council is seeking private sector partners for the scheme, which is unlikely to be started in less than five years.