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£80 million road
improvements to be completed faster
LIVERPOOL City Council is to
dramatically speed up its £80 million roads investment programme. It was
originally planned to spend £80m over the next 8 years improving the City's
highways network; but on Friday, 21 August 2015, the Council's Cabinet will be asked
to amend the plans so they are completed within five years, by 2019.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:- "We desperately need to improve the
quality of some of the main routes in the City and that is why we are now set to
press the accelerator pedal and do it much faster than originally planned.
The damaged road surfaces and potholes in the City are a bugbear for residents,
businesses and investors due to decades of underinvestment, and we want to take
significant steps in putting that right.
There are huge economic benefits to having well-maintained, high quality
highways. They keep traffic flowing, keep vehicle running costs low, and by
ensuring people and goods can move efficiently, make our City a more desirable
place to live, work, visit and do business."
Work started last year on the highways investment programme, and the first
scheme on the A59 Walton Vale and Warbreck Moor has already been completed.
Elsewhere, resurfacing of the area around Islington is set to be completed in
early September and on Ullet Road in early October, while work on Smithdown Road
will start in September 2015.
Other areas of the City to benefit from the investment over the next few years
include:-
► Smithdown Road and Allerton Road.
► East Lancs Road.
► Walton Hall Avenue.
► Scotland Road.
► County Road/Walton Road.
► Kensington/Prescot Road.
► Aigburth Road/Jericho Lane.
Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet member for regeneration, said:- "We
are working on those routes which carry huge volumes of traffic, which are of
the most strategic importance to the city, and which are in poor condition.
This work will significantly reduce our highways maintenance backlog over the
coming years, and as such, is an important component in the on going
regeneration and development of our City."
The move is expected to deliver major savings for the City by reducing urgent
and on going highway repairs; which can often be more costly than a planned
improvement programme; and reducing public liability claims.
Funding for the work is coming from a mix of the sale of assets such as land and
buildings (known as capital receipts), borrowing and external funding from
utility companies.
Separately, another £85 million is set to be spent by 2019 on highways projects,
including:-
► Making the Strand more pedestrian friendly to make it easier for residents and
visitors to access the waterfront by improving crossings and routes for cycles
and people on foot.
► A new City Centre 'connectivity' scheme including new and improved signage and
lighting, dedicated coach parking, more priority for pedestrians and cyclists
and a review of bus routes to reduce delays.
► Upgrading the A565 north Liverpool corridor.
► Improving the pedestrian routes in and around Lime Street.
► Upgrading the Tunnel Road/Earle Road junction in the Baltic Triangle.
► Upgrading crossings and installing bus priority measures on the A57 around the
Knowledge Quarter.
The City Council receives approximately £3.5m each year from central government
for the maintenance of its highways, including carriageways, footways, street
lighting, and highway structures. This annual funding will be directed towards
the on going maintenance of roads not included in the £80m investment programme,
such as unclassified roads, and B and C roads. |
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Liverpool Midwives win
International Fellowship Award
2 midwives, Jaki Lambert and Terry
Kana, from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), have won the
International Fellowship Award (IFA) with the aim of enabling Midwives to
further develop research interests in Midwifery, Maternity Services, pregnancy,
childbirth and women's health from an international perspective.
This grant is as a result of the ongoing partnership between the medical
research charity Wellbeing of Women, the Royal College of Midwives and the
Burdett Trust for Nursing.
Jaki Lambert is on secondment to the LSTM Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health
from her current role as a senior research associate in Scotland. Her research
will focus on recording the experiences of women who use maternity services in
Zimbabwe. She will be working with women and midwives to develop a user friendly
text messaging tool that can be used by women to enter scores about their
experiences with maternity services during birth. The information will then be
used to improve the care of women and ensure they get the services that meets
their needs.
Terry Kana is a lecturer at the LSTM Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health and
her research will focus on midwifery in Bangladesh. She will be working with
midwives in Bangladesh to assess the workload and diversity of their role. Terry
hopes her research will contribute to enhancements in midwifery education in
Bangladesh that reflect the midwives' own aspirations for their roles, and the
needs of maternity services in the country.
Commenting Jaki Lambert said:- "I am really grateful and honoured to be
awarded this fellowship. This offers a wonderful opportunity for me to be
embedded in research that has the potential to improve care for women and their
babies. Also as part of the Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health it is great
news as it fits within the wider quality agenda. It is important that women have
a voice that can influence care provision whatever the context."
Commenting Terry Kana said:- "I am so happy to have been awarded this
funding. It's a great honour. The funding will help me complete part of the
fieldwork for my PhD which is looking at the scope of practice and workload of
midwives in low and middle income countries."
Louise Silverton, Director for Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives said;-
"I am delighted funding has been awarded to Jaki and Terry. Both of the
projects will make a very important contribution to improving the care of women
and their babies in these countries. I look forward to seeing the results of
their work. These projects are always a 2 way learning process. We in the UK
can also learn a lot from our midwifery colleagues in other countries. I am sure Jaki
and Terry will bring back ways of working that could also contribute to improved
maternity services here in the UK."
Fiona Leishman, Chief Executive, Wellbeing of Women, said:- "Wellbeing of
Women greatly values its partnership with the RCM and the Burdett Trust for
Nursing. We share a goal of providing the funding to give midwives the
opportunity to research both here in the UK and in developing countries. By
funding these projects we are able to continue this vital support. The
international research awards are a fantastic opportunity for these talented
midwives and will ultimately improve the care women and babies receive."
Shirley Baines, Chief Executive of the Burdett Trust for Nursing, said:-
"The Burdett Trust for Nursing is committed to developing leadership across the
profession and ensuring that women get the best possible maternity care. We are
delighted that our funding for Wellbeing of Women is having such a wide impact
and we wish Jaki and Terry every success with their important international
research."
For more information about the awards visit the RCM's
website.
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