People living on one of Merseyside's most important roads have said they want to move due to pollution and noise levels.
Church Road/A5036 in Litherland serves as the main artery that feeds Liverpool's ports. The docks have been Liverpool's gateway to the world and the bedrock on which it has prospered.
Once maritime commerce was centered in heart of the city but as the ships got bigger, the port had to move further to the north. Congestion on the A5036 has been a long-standing problem but the expansion of the Port of Liverpool has led to increasing numbers of freight vehicles on the route, and people the ECHO spoke to think the road is struggling to cope.
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Peel Ports told the ECHO it takes its responsibility along the route very seriously and works with the local community and is working on decarbonisation schemes.
People who live on Church Road have claimed the constant noise and exhaust fumes from heavy goods vehicles are having a detrimental effect on their lives, health, and homes.
John McDonald has lived with his wife Sandra on Church Road for the last 43 years and said he is planning to due to the traffic levels. Speaking to the ECHO he said: "It has destroyed the ability to rest or have a conversation and the house rattles when the lorries go past.
"It's an unending stream of traffic it's incessant. The road used to be one lane in each direction with grass verges and it was prime land before it was expanded.
"You can't open a window without dust coming in and due to the vibrations from the road we have had cracks in our bedroom ceiling. It has worn us down. It's gone from being one of the principal places to live in the borough to the absolute worst."
Across the road from John lives Carol and her husband Jimmy. Unlike on the other side of Church Road, there is no slipway, and Carol's drive backs right against the A5036. A cancer survivor, Carol's husband now has a terminal brain tumor and she said she feels the pollution from the road has had an impact on their overall health.
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She said: "With Peel Port being extended they don't stop at 7pm they carry on all night long and they bounce over the grids, the noise is unbearable. Sleeping is horrendous we have had to move into the back bedroom because of the noise.
"There are no birds in the garden the pollution has got rid of them all. You can feel the vibrations we used to have glass shelves and they would rattle as the lorries go past but it has got worse in the last ten years, there has been no let up.
"I love my house and I don't want to move. But if I sit in my garden all I can hear is the traffic."
Recent traffic scheme investigations undertaken by the National Highways Agency have shown that 15% of traffic using the A5036 is relative to the Port. In 2017 Highways England unveiled a plan to upgrade the current A5036 Liverpool Port Access Road with a new dual carriageway that would cut through Rimrose Valley Park.
This has been met with strong opposition from the campaign group Save Rimrose Valley. However, in April of this year, Highways England said they were committed to introducing the £250 million accesses road.
In 2020 The British Lung Foundation found that there are over 1000 deaths annually that are directly attributable to toxic air pollution levels in deprived areas of Liverpool with 188 deaths in Sefton alone. Neighbours on the street all calling for measures to be introduced now.
Mark Mason has lived on Church Road since 2016, he said: "All the houses are damaged because of the vibrations and it shakes the houses there are cracks all over the place. You fix them all up and they are back again.
"I know it is sad to go onto Rimrose Valley but they have got to do something now, we are talking about peoples' health and millions of pounds worth of houses."
A spokesperson for Peel Ports Group said: “Peel Ports takes its responsibilities as a good neighbour very seriously and we operate all of our sites subject to the appropriate environmental procedures We work constructively and collaboratively with a number of statutory bodies and local community groups, including the council, to reduce any impact of operations in the community.
“Having increased rail connections to other major UK cities, the Port of Liverpool facilitates its critical supply chain service through a number of multimodal solutions and recently committed to becoming a net-zero operator by 2040. Decarbonisation schemes are already well underway, including the use of HVO fuels and electric vehicles”
Bruce Parker, National Highways’ Head of Planning and Development for the North West, said: “We’re aware of the issues along this important length of road and continue to do what we can to make improvements, for example by providing noise insulation for homes beside the A5036. There is a limit to what we can do on the existing road, which is why we are developing our A5036 Princess Way – access to the Port of Liverpool scheme. This will, in the long-term, address noise, air quality, congestion, and severance problems for residents.
“We are committed to supporting Government and local authorities to improve air quality alongside and near England’s motorways and major A-roads. We’re working with partners to achieve compliance as quickly as possible. We are taking actions such as lowering speed limits on some roads and funding the take-up of electric vans.
"However, ultimately the solution to improving air quality lies with the ongoing shift towards zero-emissions vehicles and the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.”
Sefton Council has been approached for a comment.
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