Spotlight on …
ROADS THAT NEVER WERE
(Part 4) by Mike Chitty

The western section of the M62 Motorway had its origins in the 1960s, when the 'South Lancashire Motorway' was shown on Liverpool City Council's 'Interim Planning Policy' proposals map. It followed the line of the Warrington-Liverpool 'Route 207' - through open countryside south of Huyton - which had been shown on the Road Plan for Lancashire (1949). The Interim Planning Policy (1965) formed the basis of the MALTS Report (1969) which was a 'land-use and transportation study' proposing the expansion of both the road and railway networks to cater for the anticipated population and economic growth of the Merseyside conurbation.

The MALTS map envisaged the motorway entering into Liverpool City Centre, where it would connect with the proposed Inner Motorway ring road. West of Queens Drive (the Rocket) there would be intersections at Rathbone Road and Tunnel Road - the latter being widened to become part of the so-called Middle North South Primary, leading from Switch Island to the 'Third River Crossing' (a bridge across the Mersey to Wirral and, ultimately, North Wales). The motorway would then follow the line of Upper Parliament Street before joining the Inner Motorway just south of the Anglican Cathedral. That is why the Rocket - where the M62 currently ends - is numbered 'Junction 4'.

Even in 1969 the completion of this South Lancashire Motorway was in some doubt. The section from the Outer Ring Road (which became the M57) to Queens Drive had already been allocated funds, but the remainder was to be paid for out of 'total conurbation funds' in competition with many other proposed transport improvements. The City Council's 'Statement of Current Planning Policy' (1971) reported that a review of the proposed route of the M62 extension to the city centre was underway. "The objective … is to select a route for the M62 which meets traffic requirements and cost limitations and causes minimal disturbance to existing social and physical patterns. Originally five routes were shortlisted for the section between Queens Drive and the City Centre, and a full scale evaluation exercise conducted including discussion with residents in the area affected".

Unfortunately the details of these five shortlisted routes have not survived - unless, of course, someone has kept a copy of the consultation material (in which case, please get in touch!). However, a map dated October 1971 indicates the boundary of 'Study Area C' (the 'M62 Study Area') and gives some idea of how devastating at least one of the proposed alignments would have been for Wavertree. The southernmost option would, it seems, have taken the motorway from Mill Lane (which was to be reached from the Rocket by decking-over the railway cutting) across Sandown Park, Sandown Lane and part of the Mystery, and then along the line of Lawrence Road, Earle Road and Upper Parliament Street. Not surprisingly, this plan met with enormous opposition - including the formation of a 'Sandown Area Action Group' - and was swiftly abandoned.

In the end, around 1974, the choice of routes was narrowed down to two. Both of them ran through the Edge Lane Railway Sidings - which in the 1980s would become the site of Wavertree Technology Park. One option was to build a surface-level link from there to Upper Parliament Street. The other was to build a tunnel under Kensington Fields to reach the city centre via Islington. Both would have been very expensive, and meanwhile it had become apparent that Merseyside's population was declining rather than growing. Neither of the proposals, therefore, went ahead.