TOWN Hall chiefs at Warrington have approved a work agreement with Network Rail for a major scheme to strengthen Bank Quay bridge.
The scheme, which will cost the council up to £1.2 million, will be carried out in July next year and
will take 18 weeks.
Design work will be carried out jointly by Network Rail – who own the bridge – and by the council’s in-house bridge engineering team.
Because the bridge is integral to Warrington’s principal and strategic road network, the council is required to fund 86 per cent of the work.
If the work was not carried out there would be major implications for traffic management in the town because a weight restriction would have to be placed on the bridge.
This would severely hamper transport movements around the town and result in potential congestion issues at other junctions and on other rounds, particularly for traffic attempting to travel across from or to the west of the town centre.