A FIRST glimpse of what a long-awaited new Winnington river crossing could look like has been revealed.

Cheshire West and Chester’s ruling cabinet is poised to rubber-stamp the proposed design for two new bridges next week while it awaits the outcome of a funding bid to Government.

The project would cost almost £51m, with more than £45m coming from the Government’s levelling up fund. Almost £3m of the remaining money would be from private investment, with the final £3m coming from council coffers.

Cheshire West’s cabinet approved an application to the levelling up fund in June and project chiefs have since whittled down six possible schemes to one final design, which would include:

  • Conversion of the existing Grade II listed Winnington Turn and Stone bridges into cycle/pedestrian only crossings.
  • Creation of two new road bridges for vehicles - one fixed bridge across the Weaver, and another across the navigation with the ability to lift to allow river access. Both new bridges would also include wide shared use paths to allow access to Runcorn Road.

Northwich Guardian: The Navigation bridge in its raised position. The Navigation bridge in its raised position. (Image: Cabinet documents, Cheshire West.)

A new toucan crossing would also be installed to allow access to the Trent and Mersey Canal and Barnton through Nursery Wood.

After the initial designs were finalised, new computer generated artist impressions were released showing the new layout and what one of the new bridges would look like in its raised position.

A report to the cabinet, said: “The project has been developed to increase the resilience and reliability of the highway network, reduce traffic congestion, delays and journey times and enhance local and strategic connectivity to within the town of Northwich and the surrounding area by all types of transport, not just cars.

"This should enable economic regeneration in the town and support the council’s climate emergency declaration and net-zero objectives.”

Local politicians have welcomed the plans.

Cllr Bob Cernik (Winnington and Castle), said: “People have waited decades to see meaningful improvements to the infrastructure in Winnington. I’m proud of the work that’s been done over a long period to build the case for this investment, and it’s a huge achievement to get to this point.

”We now need to keep our fingers crossed that the government looks upon our bid favourably.”

Cllr Sam Naylor, who previously represented Winnington, added: “Like all government schemes, we don’t yet know if we’ll be successful with the Levelling Up Fund, and things could go either way.

"However, now that all the evidence, business cases and plans are there, even if we’re not successful this time, we’ve got everything we need to keep trying until we are.”

Northwich MP Mike Amesbury MP, said, "I’m delighted to give my formal backing to the council’s funding bid. Councillors have worked hard on this issue for a long time with the council’s officers to build a case for a new bridge, gathering the evidence and making sure plans were ready to go.”

If council chiefs give the new designs the green light, work will begin to start securing the land needed for construction.

But if landowners do not sell up, compulsory purchase orders could be enacted as a last resort to force through any sales.

If the Government awards the money and everything goes to plan, the intention is for work to start on July 1, 2024 with construction to be completed on March 24, 2026.