The Churchill Way flyovers and elevated pedestrian bridge were relics of a long-forgotten ‘master plan’ for the city

The Churchill Way flyovers were built as part of a masterplan for Liverpool that would have completely changed the city’s skyline. Today, only remnants remain. Liverpool City Council plans the future of what it calls ‘St George’s Gateway’‘.

After demolishing the viaducts between 2019 and 2020, the local authority says it has unlocked development potential in and around Hunter Street and Byrom Street, as well as potential access and connectivity for residents in communities to the north from the city center. The regeneration site covers 35 hectares.

It is defined in the east by Lime Street Station, Dale Street to the west, Hunter Street to the north and Whitechapel to the south. Byrom Street currently runs through the site, providing access to the Queensway Tunnel which lies in the center of the site, adjacent to St John’s Gardens.

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The council said it had “significant development potential with major opportunities for sustainable growth and improved connectivity in a world-class public realm” and the ECHO reported last week it is looking for a partner to prepare a planning policy and a framework for implementing the plan.

However, about 60 years ago, the viaducts were a key part of the city’s plans for regeneration. The 240 meter long viaducts were built as part of a city center inner ring road project that was never built as part of a bold “master plan”. in the 1960s for the city which never fully materialized.

Plans included ‘gateways in the sky’highways and mega-structures in a set of plans that would have created a very different city center to the one we recognize. Opened in 1970, the viaducts linked Lime Street to Dale Street and Tithebarn Street.

Below the bridge was an elevated walkway served by spiral ramps and stairs allowing pedestrians to cross the busy main roads. For almost half a century, the structures dominated the city center landscape around Liverpool Central Library, Lime Street Station and museums.

But what was initially thought to be the solution to traffic jams in the city center near the tunnel entrance didn’t quite go as planned. The idea was that traffic arriving into Liverpool from Edge Lane and East Lancs Road would be diverted to the Churchill flyover, allowing them to pass through the tunnel queues and enter the city.

However, the opening of the new Kingsway Tunnel in 1971 significantly eased traffic problems. The subsequent abandonment of the ring road project meant that the flyovers seemed more of an afterthought.

Furthermore, after just one year there were signs that the state-of-the-art walkway, which has underfloor heating to prevent freezing during the winter months, was not being used as intended. In 1971 the ECHO published a report on traffic on Byrom Street, one of the main roads in and out of the Mersey Tunnel, which was ten lanes wide at its busiest point.

The ECHO reported that although the road posed a danger to pedestrians, few people used the elevated walkway, preferring to take their chances by crossing the road. In 1985, just 15 years after their opening, the viaducts were closed to traffic for more than two years.

Described in the ECHO as “Liverpool’s most famous and almost forgotten flyover”, work needed to be carried out on the bases of the columns supporting the structure. This is despite the fact that in 1971 the structure won the Concrete Society’s prestigious annual award for outstanding merit in the use of concrete.

But the death knell for the Churchill Flyovers came in 2018, with the discovery of construction defects and multiple defects, leading to them closed to the public. Most of the problems dated back to the days of the construction of the flyovers.

In some parts, the wooden molds used to build the viaduct have broken, meaning too much concrete has been poured and the viaduct is heavier than initially thought, putting more stress on the structure. This was not known until the inspection, as the viaduct’s hollow bridges were constructed without manholes allowing engineers to see inside.

There are also serious drainage problems. Parts of the wooden formwork inside the raised decks had rotted from water damage.

Elsewhere, the investigation revealed that some cables and metal elements, supposed to be buried in concrete, were actually left too close to the surface. That means it rusted – and in some areas, the metal rusted so much that it expanded and blew chunks of concrete off the bridge.

The council said it had no choice but to demolish the structures due to irreversible deterioration. The dismantling work cost £6.75 million and took around three months, with the huge structures dismantled in 25 meter sections.