Sinking the Strand? Liverpool planning chief says it could happen
A draft waterfront masterplan is still months away from dropping, but in the meantime, Sam Campbell teased one revolutionary idea that’s on the table.
Campbell, head of planning at Liverpool City Council, was speaking at Place North West’s Liverpool City Region Development Update when she was asked about the forthcoming waterfront supplementary planning document – a blueprint for the six-mile stretch of land by the River Mersey. The SPD is being drawn up by BDP and Netherlands-based West 8, with the help of WSP and Ekosgen.
“It’s a really ambitious, aspirational vision,” Campbell told the sold-out crowd.
“When we come out to formal consultation on the draft you’ll see that it’s absolutely aspirational,” she continued. “There are some critical, fundamental, but huge interventions, particularly in the infrastructure that we’re proposing.”
One of those ideas? Sinking The Strand and covering it with public realm.
The waterfront SPD, which is still being firmed up, depicts a 40-year vision, according to Liverpool City Council’s Sam Campbell. Credit: PNW
Campbell described the proposal as a “radical intervention” and caveated that such a move is neither funded nor 100% happening. She acknowledged that it would “probably give my colleagues in the transportation department some hiccups, if not shock.”
If The Strand was to go ‘underground’, it would help create a seamless connection between King Edward Triangle, Ten Streets, and the city centre.
Improving travel connections is a major factor of the emerging SPD – but it is only one element of what the city council has planned for the area over the next 40 years.
“I describe it as a string of pearls,” she said of the SPD. “You’ve got the connections in between and then you’ve got real catalytic development proposals along the way.”
Sinking The Strand had at least one supporter in the room, with Liverpool Waters development director Chris Capes saying “we are fully supportive about anything improving connectivity.”
He spoke about how improving the east-west links in the city had long been a talking point – with the focus being on how to better connect the business district to Princes Dock and further afield to the Bramley-Moore Dock. That area, he contended, will be a large part of the city’s future.
“That’s got to be a huge, huge area where you can see a substantial amount of growth, whether it’s residential or business,” Capes said.
“The 40-year window for delivery feels like a long time, but actually for that part of the city… it’s got to be a fantastic opportunity for the city if we can just grasp it.”
Read the full write-up, download the presentations, and explore the photo gallery for Place North West’s Liverpool City Region Development Update.
Is this to make the buildings look taller?
By Man on a bicycle
Meanwhile in the real world trams in dedicated lanes and a merseyrail station at 10 streets would solve all connectivity needs for half the time, cost and disruption.
By Anonymous
I see the word consultation and Liverpool and automatically know nothing will happen. If you love Liverpool it’s depressing reading this site and seeing what’s happening in Manchester.
By Tommy
If Liverpool embarked on it’s own mini “Big Dig”, a’la Boston in the late 90’s it could be transformational for the waterfront, Princes Dock and Ten Streets. It would also markedly improve the prospects of areas around Chapel Street, Brunswick Street and Old Hall Street that are good spaces, but have the potential to be world class spaces to locate businesses. Measuring the economic impact of something like this will be nearly impossible with any degree of accuracy and I would say the same is true to estimating the costs.
Feels like a big risk, big reward idea that could really be worthy of detailed and proper consideration by all the parties involved.
By James Ryan
“The 40-year window for delivery feels like a long time”
What a shame Peel got the land and not someone like Grosvenor who actually transformed the City centre.
By JP
OMG more pie in sky! well no cos` its underground, but where will the money come from. Look at the mess they`ve left with the demolition of the flyovers imagine this being started and never finished and the Strand etc a nightmare.
Plenty of cities have wide roads which don`t seem to cause such upset as the Strand in Liverpool seems to, look at the Champs Elysee in Paris or the Ku`dam in Berlin. Anyway I see thousands more people heading to and from the Albert Dock now, than in years before, so leave things alone, I get the impression this topic was being mentioned because there were no other announcements to make.
By Anonymous
I saw similar in Cali Colombia, immediately thought of the Strand …. sink it from the Baltic Fleet to Princess Dock, it’d make a huge improvement to the locality.
By Boom
Did you not hear the groans in the room when the magic words ’40 years’ were mentioned? That, and the rolling of eyes, was all you needed to know about the market’s reaction.
As for sinking the Strand, for the most part this is not possible on account of the city’s main sewer running beneath it, heading north to Sandon Dock treatment works. The only part where it would be possible is, to be fair, the part where it could have most impact: around the King Edward Triangle. But what sort of run-up in terms of distance would be required to make a tunnel like this viable? You’d probably need to start it around Leeds Street. Yep, 40 years it is, then.
By Anonymous
Will they consider High Tides, the inflow of the old river and “Poole” which still floods plus global warming of the oceans?
One of the joys of Living in Liverpool is driving along the strand and the views it what makes Port cities from others.
By Liverpolitis
I’d sigh but I’ve run out of wind after decades of trying to hold my breath. Unlike LCC…..plenty of hot air there.
By Bright eyes
Always 40 plus years plan!!! But nothing ever happens?? They literally talk the talk and tick boxes then they treat the city like a performance management review at a call centre then archive.
By Anonymous
Liverpool has the best architectural assets of any regional city in England. I struggle with its lack of progress. Manchester would love the Georgian quarter, but in Manchester it would now house millionaires. That is the difference in leadership between the two cities.
By Elephant
@JP to be fair they do have an impressive collection of buddleias, it`ll be a forest in 40 years
By GetItBuilt!
Can’t wait to the cost estimates!
By Anonymous
Its a great idea!
I wish they would do the same with Dunnings Bridge Road all the way from the Docks to the M57/M58 Switch Island interchange.
Sure would make life more pleasant to have a dedicated HGV Port tunnel. You could force all HGVs to use it. I know the residents in that area would be happy.
Crazy idea? Well we have 3 tunnels (2 road, 1 rail) under the Mersey already, so this can be done.
By LordLiverpool
Sinking the strand , an excellent idea but not new been discussed for the past 30 years . The cost of the dig and especially moving all the sewers and other services would be absolutely huge …..
By George
Like Liverpool Waters 30 year window and we are over halfway through and it’s been limited.
So much ambition and so much talk .
By Anonymous
Could they plant magic money trees along the new Strand to help pay for this?
By Mr H Potter
Actually, I don’t think is radical enough. It is madness that the waterfront is separated from the city centre by a six-lane highway. Plenty of places have already paved over intrusive roads.
I suspect that a lot of the traffic currently is through traffic which shouldn’t really be there? Reduce the number of lanes, bury those that remain and create a pleasant boulevard, with a streetcar for accessibility
By Anonymous
I keep saying this…… in hope someone will listen – but there seems to be no joined up thinking – taking a helicopter view of the city – everything is disjointed – Lime St, Fabric District and London Road, Strand, Williamson Square – all seem to be being looked at in isolation. Madness.
By anon
40 years for delivery? Well there was a feasibility study for sinking Strand in 1982/83 when Albert Dock being regenerated. At then £10 m ish it was dismissed as not VFM. Big mistake !
By Anonymous
It can’t happen though in the real world can it? The vast amount a tunnel would cost isn’t going to be available, all for some nice if windswept public realm, next to plenty of existing expensive public realm.
If it was to open up land for development, knitting in the waterfront to the Business Quarter then there might be a case, but the latter continues to die off, with no sign of new-build office space on any of the existing empty space, and what’s there arleady turned into hotels and poor quality flats.
Perhaps LCC needs to learn to get the basics right before getting too ambitious and aspirational – how about a single speculative office block somewhere in the centre after 20+ years?
By Wilberforce House
I really struggle to understand how this council continues to propose time and money wasting schemes that never come to fruition. A forty year plan, are they having a laugh. How about they expend all their energy convincing investors, developers and large corporates to provide more business opportunities and build more A class office space in the City and wider region. This council wasted time and money on a tram scheme years ago that sadly didn’t materialise, no surprise there. That scheme in itself would have eased congestion. You only have to look at other Cities that have introduced such schemes and they work well. I was honestly filled with hope when central government intervened with the day to day running of this inept authority. Now central government have returned to Whitehall and left them to their own devices. True to form they have reverted back to type.
By Stephen Hart
Amazing the lengths some will go to to troll LCC into still not getting rid!
By Wow
What a totally crazy idea! As the saying goes ‘Nero fiddled while Rome burned’ and I think it is very apt to attach it to this idea. Whilst our friends up the East Lancs road and the M62 get on with approving and building more developments and buildings in general our planners and our city region mayor keep dreaming up more fantastical ideas (including the tidal barrage) and more yet more consultations which will never see the light of day. Nothing ever gets done and nothing much if anything gets built and clearly nobody in the council takes any account whatsoever of what the people in the city who really care about the city really think. They just don’t care! My understanding is that ‘The Strand’ takes it’s name from the ‘the strand line’ in geography and is where the Mersey used to come up to on the waterfront. Dig a big tunnel under the Strand and as an earlier correspondent says you will have major issues coping with water levels. That is why there is a large and very ornate water pumping building on Mann Island which has been used to pump water from the underground train tunnels for many years. The cynic in me keeps thinking it is April fools day today but it is isn’t, it is not far off Christmas and so maybe this idea is meant to be a Christmas cracker joke from the council….because in my view that is what it is!
By Brendan R
Good to see the Council is led by “Dreamers” not “Realists”. Maddest public statement of the year by any Council official.
By Anonymous
A great idea but sadly cost prohibitive.
By Anonymous
It’s insulting that schemes like this are churned out when the basics can’t even be sensibly addressed. They estimate this area will be underwater in a couple of decades as well so any costs or plans would need to account for this.
By Pie In Da Sky
LCC reach new highs in their hatred of tall buildings by producing a scheme to build lower than ground level, impressive
By Anonymous
Pigs might fly. rural Lancs lad, 25 year Manc dweller, Scouse spouse, work in L3. Is Manchester perfect? No. Is Manchester pretty? Not half as much as Liverpool. Does Manchester have half the space and half the potential as Liverpool? Absolutely not.
What has Mancheser done? It said yes, to everything, for the last 30 years. Imperfect, ugly, so long as it brought growth, it said yes, yes and then yes again. Should it have? Well, no, in a perfect world, but that has been the only game in town with our South-centric government. Now, Manchester is filling the gaps with quality, tearing down the mistakes that brought growth.
Liverpool – we love you. But don’t make perfection the enemy of the good. London will never give a sh1t. Build it yourself, as we both did before.
By Anonymous
They say a tunnel could open up land for public realm or development, but hang on we already have tons of vacant land in the city centre that no one seems to want to build on, or aren’t allowed to because the council won’t agree to the plans put forward.
By Anonymous
To man on a bicycle. Those building don’t need to be taller to be more recognisable and ooze class and history.
By Anonymous
We could do with a waterfront tram running at least from the Albert Dock up to the Ten Streets, and a potential replacement of some walkway bridges to cross the dreaded Strand?
By Anonymous
I love class and history really I do ,but for the love of god somebody throw a spade in the ground around here now and again cos y’know, development and progress are also nice.
By Anonymous
LCC no ambition
By Anonymous
Yes. Spend £40m re-laying the Strand. Then a year later prepare to spend millions designing a tunnel to make your £40m spending redundant.
Come back Mayor Anderson, all is forgiven.
By DenseCity
@ Anon 10.06pm 23rd Nov. We don’t need walkway bridges to cross the Strand as we have numerous controlled crossing points eg at the Hilton, James St, etc.
In London there’s Whitehall, Edgeware Rd,Talgarth Rd,Euston Rd, all busy, wide, roads and people cross them by waiting at the crossing till the light turns green, it’s easy.
We don’t need any hair-brained solutions like tunnels or bridges ,just cross the road at the appropriate spot.
By Anonymous
As mentioned above stop trying to re-imvent the wheel. There are numerous crossing points at the strand.10s of millions has been spent on it alreasldy. Numerous big cities have roads like the strand that are important for through traffic. There’s many more places within the boundaries of the city centre that need investment stop lumping all investment on the waterfront.
By Anonymous