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St. Helens Borough Council’s Liveable Streets webpage closed at the end of 2021. However, we’ve been able to tell everyone who has subscribed about proposals for cycling and walking improvements via this webpage.

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A new station building and additional car parking spaces will be built at Lea Green rail station in St Helens thanks to Combined Authority (CA) funding as part of wider plans to encourage people to use more sustainable modes of transport.

The CA has been working with St Helens Borough Council and Northern to develop proposals for the Eastern Region Interchange and Connectivity (ERIC) scheme and is investing £14.8m from its Transforming Cities Fund (TCF).

The ERIC scheme includes a number of upgrades at Lea Green station which, since 2018 has seen more services stop at the station, offering more opportunities to travel across the UK, and the surrounding area:

Feedback and comments from residents, local businesses, and anyone connected to Lea Green railway station, submitted as part of a public consultation that closed in February, will help shape final designs.

This news follows an announcement just last week from the Combined Authority confirming a £9.8m TCF investment into improving accessibility at five rail stations on the city region network.

All these schemes are part of a wider vision to make the region’s rail network the most accessible in the country.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said:

“Devolution offers us the opportunity to do things differently. When I was elected, I made it a priority to improve our local transport network to make it easier, quicker and more affordable for local people.

“That’s why we’ve invested nearly £15m in and around Lea Green station to improve the facilities and make it a much better place for travellers and cyclists alike.

“I’m also developing wider plans for a London-style transport network, with tap-in contactless payments, fare caps and better buses and trains. We're using devolution to take greater control over local transport and run it in the interests of its users.”

Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Environment & Transport, said:

“We’re always looking to make active travel like walking and cycling an easier option - particularly for shorter trips - and will encourage longer commutes by rail at the upgraded train station, so securing this funding is a positive step forward.

“Our intention is to make sure this scheme is fit for the future by planning in future development of nearby brownfield sites so that sustainable travel is built in from the start of developments to help create healthy habits from the beginning.”

Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, said:

“Our priority is always to make sure stations are safe, accessible and welcoming places for our customers.

“This is why we were delighted to work in partnership with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and St Helens council on this project.

“We are transforming our network to give customers better journeys and the improvements at our car parks will ensure those journeys begin and end in a more pleasant environment.

“We’ve made great strides with enhancements, large and small, across our entire network. Our new ‘A Better Way to Go’ campaign demonstrates the hard work that has taken place as we continue to transform rail travel in the north.”

Simon O’Brien, Liverpool City Region Walking & Cycling Commissioner

“Cycling and walking is great for air quality and the environment, and brilliant for our physical and mental health and wellbeing. But we shouldn’t just think of walking or getting on our bikes as exercise – it’s also a great way to get around.

“In my role as Liverpool City Region Cycling and Walking Commissioner I have seen many proposals for encouraging people leave the car at home and I can safely say the new improvements to Lea Green station and surrounding network are the best I have seen. A gold standard development, raising the bar for all future such plans throughout the region. With the support of the Metro Mayor and Combined Authority, St Helens Borough Council is giving everyone in the area the opportunity to think differently about how to commute and get about in our everyday lives. Fantastic”

St Helens Borough Council has launched a consultation to seek views on plans to deliver sustainable and active transport improvements at one of St Helens’ busiest railway stations.

The Eastern Region Interchange and Connectivity (ERIC) scheme - a joint partnership between St Helens Borough Council; Liverpool City Region; and Northern Rail - proposes a number of upgrades at Lea Green which, since 2018, has seen more services stop at the station, offering more opportunities to travel across the UK.

Plans focus on making sustainable transport an easy choice to make for commuters by linking up Lea Green with dedicated pedestrian and cycling routes connecting nearby residential, leisure and employment areas.

This includes changes to the Bull and Dog junction to make it easier to use on foot or cycle - and providing links to a number of brownfield sites with planning permission for new homes nearby to encourage the developments to be more sustainable.

The proposal also includes a new station building with waiting room and other customer facilities, along with a decked car park which would increase the park and ride capacity to around 450.

From today (Friday 12 February) residents, local businesses, and anyone connected to Lea Green railway station, are invited to take part in a short survey to help shape the project.

Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said:

“These plans intend to make walking and cycling an easier option and thereby encouraging active travel for short trips. It should also have a positive wider impact on our air quality and the environment through reduced vehicle pollution, with public transport encouraged for longer trips.

“Our intention is to make sure this scheme is fit for the future by planning in future development of nearby brownfield sites so that sustainable travel is built in from the start of developments to help create healthy habits from the beginning.

“Like any proposed planning development, it is important that the public form part of the process which is why we’d welcome any constructive feedback to help strengthen plans and make them the best they can be for all concerned.”

Councillor Liam Robinson, Transport Portfolio Holder for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said: "We're always looking at ways we can make travelling by public transport more appealing and accessible, and these proposals for improvements at Lea Green station support this.

"It’s also important that we recognise the need to make walking and cycling viable options as part of a journey and reduce the reliance on private vehicles to improve air quality in the city region, which we believe this scheme can achieve.

"We would always encourage people to take part in the engagement process on schemes like this so that their views can help shape the final proposals."

View the plans, watch an animation of the station proposals, and take part in the survey, by visiting: www.sthelens.gov.uk/leagreen

If you are not able to complete the survey online, please get in touch with our Contact Centre on 01744 676789 or contactcentre@sthelens.gov.uk to request the information in a different format.

The consultation will close on Monday 28 February.

With many St Helens Borough residents getting a taste for cycling recently, free adult cycle training is being offered in order to help local people build confidence and improve their skills.

Cycling has become the ‘new normal’ for lots of people, and Merseyside Road Safety Partnership are working with BikeRight! and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to offer these courses as part of a package of measures aimed at improving safety in the region.

Cycle training is also available for children aged ten and above who missed the training delivered in schools due to coronavirus. Education initiatives are also planned for drivers including Safe Pass operations designed to encourage motorists to give more space when overtaking pedal cyclists.

Courses will be accessible from across Merseyside, with St Helens Borough's courses run at Newton-le-Willows Health and Fitness.

Places fill up fast, but more dates will be added. Booking is online at www.bikeright.co.uk

The courses are all run by qualified trainers, and are an ideal way to boost confidence in adults and children alike. Courses for adults run on Saturdays for 2 hours, those for children aged ten and over are from 9am-3pm.

Current local dates are as follows:

Children's courses:

Monday 24th August, 9am-3pm

Tuesday 25th August, 9am-3pm

Wednesday 26th August, 9am-3pm

Adults' courses:

Saturday 29th August, 10am

Saturday 29th August, 1pm

Work is set to begin this week on six new walking and cycling routes across all six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region – Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. Most of the schemes are scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer, making it easier and safer for people to travel by foot or bike across the city region.

The 23km of new pop-up cycle lanes and expanded footpaths will be supplemented by traffic calming measures and new secure bike storage.

Since late March, there has been a surge in people cycling and walking for daily exercise and essential journeys, with 6 in 10 of people telling a Combined Authority survey that they expected to walk and cycle more even as lockdown measures are eased.

The new infrastructure will help enable people to travel more safely and support social distancing, connecting key locations like hospitals, workplaces and town centres as well as rail and bus stations.

Schemes to be built with the first tranche of emergency funding include:

The new pop-up foot and bike paths also mark a significant step towards the city region’s long-term plans for a best-in-class 600km walking and cycling network – with £30.7m already committed to building and upgrading routes across the Liverpool City Region.

Increased funding has also been earmarked for cycle training and repairs as well as bike loan and grant schemes to help more people out of cars and public transport and onto bikes.

The new routes are funded by almost £2m of funding from the first tranche of the government’s emergency active travel fund that has been awarded to the Liverpool City Region. The Combined Authority has worked closely with local councils to allocate this funding for new pop-up routes in Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:

“Since I was elected I’ve been working hard to deliver a walking and cycling revolution across our region, with 600km of new and upgraded routes being delivered over the next few years.

“The Coronavirus pandemic has seen lots of people getting back on their bikes and we’re doing all that we can to make it as safe and enjoyable for them as possible.

“Cycling is much better for your health, the planet and for your wallet than taking the car. These new pop-up lanes should make it much easier for people to get about and hopefully help encourage more people to ditch the car!”

Simon O’Brien, Liverpool City Region Cycling and Walking Commissioner said:

“It’s fantastic to see that work will be beginning on new pop-up bike lanes and foot paths. Infrastructure like this will help people in our city region to travel actively more safely and with confidence.

“It’s also an amazing opportunity to test out our vision for a 600km network of high-quality, permanent walking and cycling routes for the Liverpool City Region.

“Coronavirus has had a huge impact on our city region, but we now have the opportunity to look at how we can change things for the better in the future – and rethinking the way we travel and taking more journeys by bike and on foot needs to be part of that.”