FOUR new bridge structures and a flyover crossing will be needed if a proposed £212.7 million bypass is built.

In April, the Government confirmed it will put £142.5 million towards the Western Link scheme, with the Labour-run council planning to contribute £70.2 million.

The highway would connect the A56 Chester Road with the A57 Sankey Way in Great Sankey.

The council is expected to submit its final business case to the Department for Transport in autumn 2022.

It is currently proposed that, following planning approval, construction will commence in 2023 and be completed in 2026.

An environmental impact assessment scoping report prepared by Mott MacDonald, on behalf of the council, has now been put forward.

This part of the planning process helps to determine the extent of issues to be considered and reported in the future environmental statement.

The statement would be submitted to support a planning application for the scheme.

The scoping report says the project aims to address congestion at key junctions and ‘resilience’ at times of severe traffic delay, while improving air quality in the town centre.

It says: “It will also unlock key development land to support the growth aspirations of the Warrington local plan.”

The report also highlights climate change ‘resilience and adaptation’.

It adds: “Given the vulnerability of the scheme to climate change induced hazards, and the likelihood of these hazards becoming more frequent and severe in nature, it is recommended that climate change resilience and adaptation is scoped into the environmental impact assessment.”

If it goes ahead, the project will deliver a 3.2km single carriageway road between Chester Road and Sankey Way.

It would also involve the construction of four new bridge structures, plus a flyover crossing the A57 west to east.

These bridges will cross the St Helens Canal, Fiddlers Ferry line and Sankey Brook, the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal.