Kirkby to Lister Drive: Cable Replacement Project

Electricity for Liverpool and its suburbs is fed into the city through a network of high voltage underground cables beneath the streets.

One of these cable circuits, originally installed in the 1960s, is now nearing the end of its operational life and needs to be replaced.

A safe, secure and reliable power supply is vital for the continued development and growth of the City of Liverpool and the surrounding area.

This project forms part of National Grid’s ongoing national maintenance programme and represents a major investment in the region’s power network.

On behalf of National Grid, the Electricity Alliance - West is carrying out work to replace one of the existing 275,000 volt underground cable circuits, which run between its Kirkby and Lister Drive substations.

To maintain the security of the city’s power supplies, the existing cable must remain in service until the replacement cable has been installed. A new route for the replacement cable between the substations has been developed in conjunction with the local authority and is shown on the map below.

This essential work will allow National Grid to ensure the security of electricity supplies and meet the growing demand of the Merseyside region.

This is a major engineering project which has needed careful planning and which will take two years to complete. Work started in July 2007 and will continue until 2010.

The new cable is being installed in a trench approximately 1.3 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep.

The majority of the trench will be excavated in the roads along the route, and if your road is affected we will contact you with further information nearer the time of the
works.

Because of the need to work in local streets, some disruption is inevitable and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

We have worked closely with the local highways authority and emergency services to develop a detailed traffic management plan to minimise disruption as far as possible, and to ensure the safety of local residents and road users throughout the project.

We continue to work with these organisations and with city councillors to take account of changing local circumstances, and we have set up a telephone information line for local people who have any queries or concerns. You can find the telephone number on the right of this page.