The Runcorn-Widnes road bridge nearing completionFrequent requests were made for a road bridge across the River Mersey between Runcorn and Widnes and in 1947 the Runcorn-Widnes Bridge Joint Committee was formed to push the government to make a decision on this. Work eventually started in 1956 and the bridge was finally opened to traffic on 22 July 1961.
|
|
It was the third bridge to be built across the River Mersey at this point. Costing £3 million (£40 million in today's costs) the bridge was 100ft (30m) higher than the railway bridge and had the longest single arch span in Europe (the third longest in the world). The road bridge was widened to four lanes between 1975 and 1977 and renamed the Silver Jubilee bridge. The approach roads on both sides were renamed Queensway.
A fourth bridge?
People living in the area have seen traffic across the River Mersey at this point go from ferry to rail and then from a transporter bridge which carried 1000 vehicles a day to a new road bridge in 1961 which carried 11,500 a day when it opened. The number of vehicles crossing the road bridge reached 67,000 a day in 1991 and has increased to about 80,000 a day. This number is forecast to reach 96,000 by 2009. This increase in traffic explains why there are plans to build another road bridge alongside the Silver Jubilee bridge to help ease the traffic congestion. For details on this see the Mersey Crossings website.