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Warrington Bridge

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Warrington Bridge
Location Map ( geo)
Warrington Bridge - Geograph - 1303380.jpg
Cameraicon.png View gallery (5)
Location
Warrington
County
Lancashire • Cheshire
Highway Authority
Warrington
Additional Information
Bridge Type:  Iron Arch Bridge
On road(s)
A49 • A5061
Crossings related to the A49

Warrington Bridge is one of two bridges where the A49 and A5061 cross the River Mersey in a gyratory system known as Bridgefoot. (Bridge Foot being the name of the Northern A5061 joining the junction, and the original crossroads junction.)

The A49 is a major route which runs between Ross-on-Wye and Bamber Bridge in Preston. The A5061 is a primary road linking the Sankey Green signalised roundabout, West of Warrington town centre, with Latchford Village and the A50, South-East of the town centre.

History

By the 1960s traffic levels at the original crossroads had increased to levels that the bridge and the associated Bridge Foot junction was becoming a bottleneck. Warrington County Borough first proposed a scheme in 1962 to provide a free-flow right turn from Wilson Patten Street to the bridge. This was approved in 1965 but never carried out.

The next scheme was part of the Warrington New Town proposals of the late 1960s. The consultants working on behalf of the development corporation devised a scheme that included grade separation either end of the bridge. The bridge could be reconfigured to provide five lanes. This scheme features in most material related to the new town proposals and is shown on the left below.

The County Borough produced a revised scheme with flyovers on both sides of the river along with a new bridge. This is shown on the right below.

In 1972 the New Town Development Corporation produced a report examining all past and present proposals for the bridge. It reached the conclusion that capacity should be increased to provide relief until the North-South Expressway was built which would cross the Mersey about a mile to the east. Furthermore any increase in capacity shouldn't make the bridge a more attractive proposition to through traffic than the expressway and therefore the preferred scheme consists of at-grade junctions either side of the bridge along with possible tidal flow on the bridge itself. No new bridge or grade separation would be needed.

Another twenty years were to elapse before improvements were finally made when a new bridge was built in the same place as the earlier County Borough's proposals. Both bridges became a traffic signal controlled gyratory.




Warrington Bridge
Related Pictures
View gallery (5)
Warrington Bridge - Geograph - 1303380.jpgBridge Foot county scheme.pngBridge Foot consultants scheme.pngBridgefootSignA5061N.jpgBridgefootSignA5061E.jpg
Other nearby roads
Warrington
Crossings of the River Mersey and tributaries
River EtherowWoodhead Reservoir Bridge • Woolley Bridge • Compstall Bridge
River GoytLower Macclesfield Rd Bridge • Whaley Bridge • Chapel Bypass Bridge • Bridgemont • Albion Road Bridge • Union Road Bridge • Woodend Bridge • Marple Bridge • Otterspool Bridge • New Bridge (Stockport) • Carrington Bridge (Stockport) • St Marys Way Bridge • Park Bridge
River TameDowry Reservoir Outlet • Denshaw Bridge • Delph Bridge • New Delph Bridge • Tame Water Bridge • Frenches Bridge • Wellihole Bridge • Roaches Bridge • Stalybridge  • Caroline St Bridge • Clarence Bridge • Dukinfield Bridge (Whitelands)  • Alma Bridge • Shepley Bridge • M67 Denton Bridge • Broomstair Bridge • Beight Bridge • M60 - Reddish Vale Bridge • Tiviot Way Bridge • M60 - Stockport Bridge
River MerseyKnightsbridge • Mersey Square Bridge • King Street West Bridge • Hollywood Way Bridge • Brinksway Bridge • M60- Cheadle Heath Bridge • Cheadle Bridge • Kingsway Bridge (Cheadle) • M60 - Northenden Bridge (2) • M60 - Northenden Bridge • Northenden Bridge • River Mersey Bridge • M60 Bridge SE of Junction 7 • Crossford Bridge (Sale) • A6144 Bridge • Flixton Bridge • Warburton Bridge • Thelwall Viaduct • Kingsway Bridge • Warrington Bridge • Mersey Gateway Bridge • Silver Jubilee Bridge • Queensway Tunnel • Kingsway Tunnel


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