Approval has been granted for an £18M highway improvement package near Sefton on Merseyside, designed to ease congestion to the north of Liverpool.

The A5758 Broom's Cross road improvement scheme was given the go ahead yesterday (Tuesday). It will see construction of a 4km bypass between the A565 Southport Road in Thornton and the M57/M58 'Switch Island' junction. Contractor Balfour Beatty will start work on site almost immediately.

Promoters of the scheme say that it will improve access between the motorway system, Southport and the Port of Liverpool.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: "This scheme will ease congestion and cut pollution on some of Sefton’s busiest roads."

Sefton Council leader Peter Dowd added: "This is a momentous occasion for Sefton and marks the end of decades of uncertainty around a possible link road or bypass in this area.

"The road will massively reduce journey times between the motorway network and north Sefton while taking thousands of vehicles out of the congested communities of Thornton and Netherton."

The A5758 Broom’s Cross Road (Thornton to Switch Island Link) scheme was one of the projects given funding approval in 2011 as part of the Spending Review process.

The road is being funded by the Department for Transport (£14.5M) and Sefton Council. Works will be complete by next October.

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