Kingsway Tunnel
The Kingsway Tunnel (or Wallasey Tunnel) is a toll road tunnel under the River Mersey between Liverpool and Wallasey. The mile-and-a-half-long tunnel carries the A59 road. It was built because the Queensway Tunnel - which was built in the 1930s to carry vehicles between Birkenhead and Liverpool - was unable to cope with the rise in post-war traffic.
Construction
The project was authorised by the Mersey Tunnel (Liverpool/Wallasey) etc. Act 1965. Edmund Nuttall Limited began work in 1966.[1] Construction took five years to complete. The approach to the tunnel on the Cheshire side uses the former railway cutting that carried the Seacombe branch line. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 June 1971.
Operations
Kingsway comprises identical twin tubes. Each has two 12-foot-wide lanes. They carry on average 45,000 vehicles a day (almost 16.4 million per year).[2] A single car journey through the tunnel currently costs £1.70 (2016).[3] Manned and automatic tollbooths are located on the Wallasey side. Of the two tunnels crossing the River Mersey, Kingsway is the only tunnel able to take HGVs.
References
- ↑ ICE Virtual Tour
- ↑ "MERSEY CROSSING STUDY - The Mersey Gateway Project". http://www.merseygateway.co.uk/. http://www.merseygateway.co.uk/publicinquirydocs/Core-docs/CD-203.pdf. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
- ↑ "Mersey Tunnels: Tolls, Fees and Charges". http://www.merseytunnels.co.uk/nossl/html/fees.php.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Kingsway Tunnel) |
- http://www.merseytunnels.co.uk
- Location map: 53°24’47"N, 3°-0’36"W