WIRRAL Council has updated its plan for how it will manage 737 miles of road in the borough over the next three years. According to a document published by Wirral Council, it will mean the council is “fully prepared for the future challenges and the significant regeneration plans that are being driven.”

The draft Wirral Highway Network Management Plan has been published ahead of an environment and transport committee meeting next week for approval by councillors. The new plan is an updated version of one approved in 2020 and will guide what the council does to keep roads moving and safe until 2027.

The council policy said the update was needed to help “support the move to active travel, public transport, and reducing carbon” and “identify current and future causes of congestion and disruption, and to plan and act accordingly” to ensure “safer and reliable journey times” for road users.

The Council’s highway Infrastructure currently includes over 737 miles of road, 1,154 miles of pavements, 38,000 streetlights, 60,000 road gullies, 170 structures such as bridges, and 300 signalised junctions. As the council’s most valuable and largest asset, it would take £2.5bn to replace.

The update is being brought in so the plan ties in with promises from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to create “a London-standard transport system” across Merseyside and parts of Cheshire. This Local Transport Plan aims to “deliver a clean, safe, resilient, accessible and inclusive” public transport network to achieve a target of “a net zero carbon emitting city region by 2040 or sooner.”

It will also feed into plans to regenerate Birkenhead including major projects like the Hind Street Urban Village as well as improve air quality and routes for walking and cycling. This includes Wirral Council’s draft Local Plan, a major development policy that outlines planned developments of 14,000 homes and new jobs over the next two decades.