Mersey Tunnel users will notice a change after major £11m project

Queensway Tunnel upgrade project completed

Drivers using the Queensway Tunnel will notice a change as they pass through it. The tunnel, which links Liverpool city center with Birkenhead, has been the subject of an £11 million project to improve its lighting.

Cllr Steve Foulkes, chairman of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authorities Transport Committee, switched on the £11m LED lighting system at a ceremony last night. The tunnel is now equipped with 1,058 new LED lights, 230 new electrical distribution boards and more than 100,000 meters of electrical cables, which will reduce the tunnel’s carbon emissions by 60% each year.

The lighting upgrade, which has a 25-year lifespan, is part of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s plans to decarbonise the city region’s public transport network, helping to region’s goal to be net zero by 2035. The combined authority says the new energy-efficient LED system throughout the three-kilometre tunnel will also save on electricity costs without any reduction in quality lighting.

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Funded by the Liverpool City Region Sustainable Transport Regulation, it will align the Queensway Tunnel with the Kingsway Tunnel, which has become more energy efficient following the completion of a similar upgrade in June 2018. This Lighting upgrade is part of an ongoing investment and modernization. program to sustain tunnels as a key element of the urban region’s transportation network and cross-river travel option.

Cllr Foulkes said: “The £11m lighting upgrade to the Queensway Tunnel is not only an important project for the ongoing maintenance of the structure, but is also a vital project in our commitment to making our city region net zero by 2035. We » We are delighted to have been able to complete this work ahead of schedule and it is thanks to the work of the project team that we have been able to achieve this.

“This year we celebrated 90^th anniversary of the opening of the Queensway, and this work demonstrates our continued commitment to investing in a vital part of our city-region transport network. We would like to thank the users of the tunnel for the patience and understanding they showed during the work.