Project Jennifer road improvements to begin!

WORK gets underway on Monday, 11 January 2016, on vital highways improvements around the Project Jennifer site in Liverpool.  The scheme, which affects part of Scotland Road around Stanley Road, Kirkdale Road and Great Homer Street, includes a new traffic signal junction, an access road to the development site and much needed resurfacing.  The £6 million scheme will mean lane restrictions, temporary signals and night time closures until September 2016.   Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet member for regeneration said:- "We are taking the opportunity to not just create an entrance to the Project Jennifer site, but also put in new traffic lights and carry out a much needed resurfacing of the road. Anyone who uses that route regularly knows that the road surface desperately needed replacing and when it is completed this work will make for a much smoother journey for motorists. I know this will cause some delays for motorists, but we have carefully planned the work to minimise disruption and major closures will take place at night so they impact on as few people as possible."

Work on four other major schemes totalling £9 million is also getting underway over the next few weeks.   They are as follows:-

► Queens Drive/Mill Lane (Now underway and running until April 2016); Junction improvement and improved pedestrian crossing facilities for new retail stores and HQ for Merseyside School For Deaf (£500k).

► Smithdown Road from Gainsborough Road to Allerton Road (work will run over 18 January 2016 until August 2016); Highways maintenance and resurfacing, junction improvements and improved crossing facilities. There will be lane restrictions, temporary signals and night time closures (£3.5 million).

► Queen Square Bus Station (January 24 to March 2016); Highway maintenance, resurfacing and traffic signals upgrade (£620k). There will be lane restrictions and night time closures.

► East Lancs Road from Stopgate Lane to Retail Park (February 2016 to August 2016); Highways maintenance and resurfacing. There will be lane restrictions, temporary signals and night time closures (£4.5 million).

Cllr. Kennedy added:- "We know all of this work will cause some relatively short term disruption for motorists, but the condition of the roads is one of the biggest complaints we get and unfortunately we can't fix them without closing off lanes. It is vital that we have got an infrastructure that is fit for a modern, growing City."

Last year, the City Council agreed to dramatically speed up its £80 million roads investment programme to tackle a significant chunk of the backlog of highway repairs by 2019. It is being funded from a mix of the sale of assets such as land and buildings (known as capital receipts), borrowing and external funding from utility companies.   Separately, another £85 million is being spent on infrastructure improvements in the next few years, with funding coming from cash pots including the Growth Deal and the Highways Challenge Fund.

Letter to Editor:- "North Liverpool Dance Academy down in Walton"

"MY Name is Laura Bohan and I have just turned 23. At the age of 3 I started dancing at a School called North Liverpool Dance Academy down in Walton, Liverpool. At the age of 7 I moved to Formby, but as I loved my dance School so much my mum and dad allowed me to travel 45 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week, all the way to Walton so I could stay in the dance School I loved. Staying at NLDA was the best decision that I could have made as they opened up so many opportunities for me; such as dancing on many different stages including stages in, Manchester and Blackpool also The Liverpool Empire also the stage of dance Sadlers Wells in London and the mega Royal Albert Hall!! These are just to name a few. There were also opportunities that let us travelled to Disney Land Paris and danced on 2 occasions there. The memories that I have taken from all these tries will treasure forever!  At the age of 16 I knew I didn't want to stay on at 6 form, but I wanted to go straight to college which was also the dance School I attended! This was a private college so I got myself a job at Tesco to help fund my 3 year course along with help from my mum and dad. Here at North Liverpool Dance Academy with the help of all my teachers here; Miss Conroy, Miss Hayley and many more I achieved my major and teaching exams in Tap, Ballet, Modern and National with the faculty Imperial Society of Teaching of Dancing (I.S.T.D).  After leaving college in 2012, at just 19, I got a teaching job part time working for Maureen Jeffery School of Dance (I also still kept my other part time job working at Tesco).  After just 19 months for working at the School, Mrs Jeffery shut her School down, as a result of this I spoke with Mrs Jeffery and re-opened the School on Monday, 28 April 2014, under my own name and re-naming it 'Total Dance Academy.' At the age of just 21, this was and still is a massive achievement for me. My aim is to give the children who attend my School the same opportunities that I was offered. We have already achieved so much as a dance School with taken exams, putting on our very own anniversary show back in May 2015 to celebrate are 1 year of being Total Dance Academy, where the turnout was outstanding with over 140 people coming to the Temperance Society to watch these talented children! Since then we have attended different types of workshops including 'Dirty Dancing', Wicked' and 'Hair Spray'. We have also performed at 2 different shows both on the Liverpool Empire where all children performed outstandingly. I see this as just the start for TDA (Total Dance Academy)! With the Help from Cheryl Hindley from The Southport and District Temperance Society we have and incredible dance space to work in. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me achieved what I have done so far. Total Dance Academy runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday offering classes from 2½ to Adults.  Thank you for taken your time to read my story." Laura Bohan.