Access to the Port of Liverpool Study - the TravelWise Merseyside ...

Access to the Port of
Liverpool Study
Merseyside & Halton FQP
27 th January 2012

Overview of the Study
• Identified as priority study for the North West Region
• Jointly Funded by DfT and Regional Partners
• Port of Liverpool = major driver for growth – of regional and national
importance
• Major growth proposals – Mersey Ports Master Plan
• Constrained transport network
• Need for a clear access strategy
• Drive for more sustainable forms of access

Key Questions to Address
1. How is the port forecast to grow in the future?
2. What are the implications of this growth for the local transport network?
3. What potential is there for modal shift?
4. What are the transport access options for accommodating this growth?

Study Area and Existing
Access Arrangements

Study Area:
• Primary focus on Liverpool Docks Area:
– Seaforth Container Terminal
– to
– Sandon Half Tide Dock

Wider Context
Also considered role of wider Mersey Ports area – Manchester Ship Canal

Current Port Access Arrangements:
Highways
1. Seaforth Dock Gate
2. Strand Rd Dock Gate
3. Seatruck Dock Gate
4. Huskisson Dock Gate
• Other access points on Regent Road
from Millers Bridge

Key Port Access Routes
Access Routes:
A5036 (Dunnings
Bridge Rd)
A5058 / A580 (Millers
Bridge, Balliol Road,
Breeze Hill, Queens
Drive / East Lancs Rd)
A565 (Derby Road)

Rail Freight
WCML
Port
Freight only branch
Olive Mount Chord
Chat Moss (Main Line)
WCML
Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station

Waterway and Coastal / Short Sea Shipping
• Manchester Ship Canal can accommodate large
seagoing vessels
• Existing regular container barge service between
Seaforth and Irlam
• Grain also shipped up the MSC to Trafford Park
• Plans identified in the Mersey Ports Master Plan
• Well established scheduled coastal and short sea unit
load short sea shipping links with:
• Clyde
• Belfast
• Dublin
• Iberia
• Mediterranean

Findings of the Study:
Answers to Four Key Questions

1. How is the port forecast to
grow in the future?

Summary of port traffic forecasts

New Growth
• Port-centric distribution: job creation, strongly supported by NWDA,
Liverpool SuperPort & other regional agencies
• Atlantic Arc RoRo service: European policy towards SSS
• Waste traffic to Ince Resource & Recovery Park

Summary
• Major growth likely to be in containers & RoRo up to 2030
• Major growth opportunity for port is port-centric distribution
• Significant potential for sustainable distribution

2. What are the implications of this growth
for the local transport network?

Area of Pressure
Highway Network has number
of functions:
•It is a local network serving local communities
•The roads are important to supporting regeneration. E.G. NWDA’s Atlantic
Gateway initiative promote economic regeneration at the port and on the A5036
•The roads are used by vehicles travelling to and from Liverpool City Centre
•The roads are part of a strategic network providing national routes to the Port of
Liverpool.

Area of Pressure
• Demands on the highway network also from:
– the underlying trend of traffic growth
– other new development traffic
• Impact - Increasing highway congestion worsening journey time reliability and
increasing freight transport costs, particularly in the “Area of Pressure”
However…
• Currently there is spare capacity on the rail network that can meet the needs of
the port in the immediate future
• The Manchester Ship Canal has potential for greater use

3. What potential is there for
modal shift?

Modal split 2008: containers
• Containers - 2% by rail in 2008
• In 2009 there is no rail traffic because Freightliner pulled out (now handling
traffic by road and then via own terminal at Garston)
• Containers are key target market for rail, particularly with direct calls &
national distribution
• Issues for Port of Liverpool:
• Mainly growth in feeder traffic in recent years
• Proximity to population centres (unlike Southapton & Felixstowe)
• Critical mass of traffic required to relevant regions
• Need somewhere to go (rail-connected)

Forecast modal split in 2030
• Assumptions:
• National distribution of containers
(post-panamax berths)
• Network of regional rail-connected
distribution parks
• Increasing road haulage costs
• No rail freight network capacity
constraints
• The proportion of unitised (Containers
& RoRo) freight transported by
sustainable distribution options (rail,
barge and coastal shipping) is forecast
to increase to 16% by 2030.
• Proportion of containers by rail forecast
to be approximately 25%, by 2030

4. What are the transport access options
for accommodating this growth?

Option Development
• Long list of options
• Prioritisation / Sifting Exercise
• Priority objective to maximise the movement of freight traffic from the port by
sustainable modes (i.e. rail, inland waterways, short sea shipping and coordinated
/ consolidated road freight)
• Packages of schemes were developed, firstly from sustainable transport
interventions, followed by highway interventions.
• Furthermore, the highway schemes were considered in the following order:
– better management of the existing situation;
– local improvements; and
– new highway capacity.

Intervention Options Packages for Appraisal
Highway
interventions on
the A5036 corridor
(Option 1)
Highway
interventions on
the A5036 corridor
(Option 2)
Sustainable freight and local sustainable transport interventions
Port Access Link
Road,
accompanied with
a downgrading of
the A5036 between
Netherton Way and
the Hawthorne Rd
junctions.
Package 1 Package 2 Package 3 Package 4

Intervention Options Package 1
Improve loading gauge clearance to W12 for pallet-wide containers from Port to WCML
Re-instate rail connection to Canada Dock from existing inland connection
Develop rail connection to Canada Dock by extending existing port rail network southwards
Increasing capacity of existing intermodal terminal to accommodate longer trains and additional
sidings
Doubling rail access line on port estate
Signalling improvements on Bootle Branch Line to increase capacity for the long term
Assist in creating commercial conditions for daily barge service to Port Salford via Port Ince and
Port Warrington
Assist in creating commercial conditions for increased coastal shipping
Develop rail shuttle service to / from port (for all non-Merseyside container traffic) to/from inland port
on outskirts of Merseyside (e.g. Port Warrington?)
Rail connection to the Post Panamax Terminal
Travel Planning Measures / Toolkit
HGV parking / holding area / Park & Ride
Enhanced signage – including VMS on key approach routes
Environmental measures eg noise barriers, enforced Air Quality Management Zones
Contribution to Passenger Transport, Walking and Cycling Enhancements
Measures to reduce delay to traffic from the opening of the swing bridges in Warrington

Forecast Port HGV Traffic
• Growth in traffic is forecast to be in containers and RoRo freight units
• Future scenarios for new traffic development could lead to an additional:
– 270,000 HGV movements per annum (in and out) and 12 trains in each
direction per day generated by the development of port-centric distribution
on a site of 50 hectares;
– 30-40,000 freight RoRo units per annum on Atlantic Arc RoRo services;
– Inbound waste material by road for onward shipment by barge to the Ince
Resource and Recovery Park on the Manchester Ship Canal.
TABLE: 2030
FORECAST
INCREASES IN
HGVS
No investment in sustainable
freight infrastructure
With investment in sustainable
freight infrastructure
Forecast
Average Hourly
Increase in
HGVs*
500
430

Appraisal Summary
• Strategic appraisal exercise undertaken – quantified costs and benefits:
• Environmental
• Journey Time
• Accident
• Decongestion
• Wider economic benefits
• Scheme costs
• Significant decongestion, environmental and accident benefits from modal
shift to sustainable transport interventions
• Journey time benefits for road freight and other vehicle trips derived from
the three highway packages
• A package of sustainable transport interventions and highway measures
will derive the greatest benefits

Delivery Strategy & Timescales

Delivery Strategy & Timescales

Summary & Next Steps

Summary
1. How is the port forecast to grow in the future?
• Growth mainly in RoRo and Container traffic
• Port Centric Growth
• Change from a regional to more national hinterland distribution
2. What are the implications of this growth for the local transport network?
• Spare capacity on rail network
• MSC has greater potential
• increased highway congestion, impacting on journey time reliability and freight transport
costs
3. What potential is there for modal shift?
• Significant potential which should be realised
• Modal shift will generate significant benefits
4. What are the transport access options for accommodating this growth?
• Firstly, investment in sustainable freight interventions and local sustainable transport
measures;
• Followed by investment in highway infrastructure
• Introduction of significant highway infrastructure likely to be post 2020

Next Steps
1. Planning and Development of a Funding and Implementation Strategy
2. Establish a working group
3. Engagement with other key stakeholders
4. DfT to provide HA with remit to investigate feasibility of new major
infrastructure to be implemented post 2020
5. More detailed modelling and appraisal exercise

Questions and Discussion
www.sefton.gov.uk/APLStudy