THE costs of building a crucial new road into the Port of Liverpool to relieve congestion could rise to £200m – five times the original estimate.

The new road is planned to go through the Rimrose Valley – parkland between Waterloo and Litherland – to help reduce traffic along the congested Dunnings Bridge Road. Currently, around 10% of traffic along the route to Switch Island – where the road meets the M57 and M58 – is port- related.

Road traffic is also anticipated to increase once a “post-Panamax” facility is built at Seaforth to berth much larger container ships than currently dock in Liverpool.

Last night, the Highways Agency said the costs had risen from £45m to between £131m and £200m because of changes in the “methodology” of estimating costs.

Sefton Council leader Tony Robertson said he was sufficiently concerned about the cost rises that he had asked officials to meet with the Highways Agency.

He said the HA had not been in touch with Sefton council officials about the scheme for around 12 months.

Cllr Robertson also wanted more details to be able to assess the environmental impact of building a road through Rimrose Valley – a wild stretch of land currently under council management.

He said: “The costs have risen quite substantially, so I have asked our transport officers to make further contact with the Highways Agency.”

Cllr Robertson said the cost increases on this project and a number of other Highway Agency schemes would have an impact on the regional transport budget, which has a “limited amount of money”.

“These huge cost increases could have a detrimental effect.”

A Merseyside regional transport document anticipates work starting in 2015 or 2016.

“The central estimate outturn price is now £165.8m, with a range of £131m to £201m maximum,” the document states.

“It is likely, but not certain, that the price for the scheme will fall from the £166m as the scheme progresses through the development phases.”

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: “The road is at the very early stages, at the moment it is just a line on a map.”

He said the scheme first needed to be given “priority status” by the regional transport board before it would be considered for funding by the Department for Transport.

The regional board will need to make a decision on this and other schemes early in the new year.

When asked about the cost increase, he said: “We now use a new methodology in estimating costs for schemes; it should mean there are no nasty surprises.”

The new estimates are more cautious and take inflation into account.

A spokesman for the Port of Liverpool said: “We welcome any improvement to the road infrastructure that assists in the movement of traffic in and out of the port and at the same time reduces traffic in Dunnings Bridge Road and its neighbourhoods.”

davidbartlett