Liverpool City Council has explained why it has tarmacked a major pavement area in the city centre.
Yesterday images appeared on social media which showed a large area of pavement in Water Street, close to its junction with The Strand, covered in a layer of freshly laid Tarmac.
The images, first posted by the Liverpool 1207 twitter account, caused some consternation, with fears over damage to the aesthetics of what is an important city centre street in terms of architecture and heritage.
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Some described the scene as 'disgusting,' while others labelled it 'vandalism' and one said the tarmacked road was a 'hideous abomination.'
Thankfully, Liverpool Council has now clarified that the new-look Water Street will not be a permanent fixture. The council said it was forced to take urgent action because the pavement flags in the area were in such a poor state that they had become a tripping hazard. This had been caused by cars parking on the pavement.
The council said Tarmac has been used as a temporary measure because other contractors are fully deployed on other schemes, The area will be revisited but this could take a few months and will rely on flexibility in those other roadworks schemes in the city, they said.
On Twitter, city centre councillor Nick Small confirmed he had raised the issue of the Tarmac. He said: "I raised the works on Water Street with officers yesterday and received this response this morning.
"These are temporary urgent works to make the area safe due to the amount of damage caused to the paving flags by vehicles driving on the pavement. The council is currently investigating options to install flags."
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