THE end of Liverpool’s Big Dig has been brought forward by seven months to coincide with the opening in May of Grosvenor’s £1bn Liverpool One development, it was revealed last night.

Hundreds of contractors will be working 24-hours a day, seven days a week to ensure the massive road works that have cut off the waterfront from the city centre are finished.

So tight is the military-precision timetable that the very last piece of work will be finished just an hour before the grand opening of Europe’s biggest city centre retail development on May 29.

The announcement of the end of the city’s gridlock nightmare was announced at a conference of contractors and stakeholders organised by Grosvenor at Fact in Liverpool.

At the same conference, it was revealed that Liverpool One will be going head-to-head with the Trafford Centre and Cheshire Oaks by late-night opening of shops until 8pm on every weekday and 7pm on Saturdays.

Key roads that will see an end to the roadworks will be Hanover Street, Paradise Street, Whitechapel, South John Street, The Strand and a network of side streets in between.

Grosvenor project director Rod Holmes told the conference: “We want to ensure there is a direct link between the Albert Dock and Kings Waterfront as soon as Liverpool One opens. It will ensure that throughout the summer when people flock to Liverpool, there will be access to all parts of the city centre and waterfront.

“In some cases, the work is being completed up to seven months ahead of the contract period, but we felt it important to re-open these key routes.

“Our two anchor stores – John Lewis and Debenhams – will be opening on May 29 along with dozens of shops. It will be an important day for Liverpool and will attract thousands of visitors and tourists and we want to ensure people can get around with ease.”

There will be a second opening in September when other parts of the project, including Chavasse Park, will open to the public.

Routes between the existing shopping centre and the waterfront have been difficult for almost two years because of the massive construction work that has led to diversions and street closures.

Much of the work has been to enable underground utility work to be carried out to provide essential services to new shops. It has also given the big utility firms the chance to replace infrastructure that is up to a century old.

Mr Holmes said he was delighted most of the road works will be finished on the day the wraps are taken off Liverpool One. A small number of work will continue for several months, including a new bus lane along the Strand, and some work on one side of Paradise Street, but essentially there will be no no-go areas from May 29.

Joanne Jennings, chief executive of Liverpool One, said late-night opening was important to attract shoppers from places like the Trafford Centre and Cheshire Oaks.

On Mondays to Fridays, shops will open from 9-30am until 8pm, 9am until 7pm on Saturdays and 11am until 5pm on Sundays.

Restaurants will open until midnight, while the 14-screen Odeon will open until midnight Sundays to Wednesdays and until 3am Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, as part of a drive to boost the city’s night time economy.

So far, more than 85% of the retail space has been snapped up, with more than 40% of the new shopping area to be taken over by shops new to Liverpool.

This will include the first Zara home store outside London.

Mr Holmes told the audience of 400: “When I think back to 2000, when we were first appointed to carry out this scheme, the changes that have taken place in Liverpool are something like an episode of Life On Mars. Liverpool is about to change forever.”

OPINION: PAGE 8

davidbartlett