Emergency road closure – Moreton Road, Upton, Wirral, and impacting M53 junction 2A

A road closure has come into effect today (15 August), in Upton, Wirral, to enable emergency works on gas mains underground.

Cadent, which manages the local gas network, has had to close a section of Moreton Road to carry out essential and urgent works.

This has also required the closure of the slip road from the M53 (junction 2A) onto Moreton Road, as the local road network cannot otherwise accommodate HGVs.

Traffic is instead being guided along a short diversion route, using the Upton By-Pass.

Motorists are guided to anticipate and plan for traffic building up in this area.

The closure will continue into next week.

Lucy Sterry, North West Head of Work Management at Cadent, said: Over recent weeks, we have been upgrading one of our older gas pipes under Moreton Road.

We planned this in for the school summer holidays, to minimise disruption. This pipe is on the edge of the road, so we kept the road open with traffic lights.

Unfortunately, during this activity, we discovered an issue with an adjacent pipeline – which is more central to the road – and this needs urgent action to deal with it.

We have everything under control, so – if you live local – please don’t worry.

But we cannot now work on this and maintain a safe space for traffic to continue to move around us – which means we have had to close the road.

I appreciate this is far from ideal and thank everyone for their patience while we deal with this.

We are making sure the local schools are aware – we are right outside Overchurch School – and will ensure we are off-site and away before schools return.

If you smell gas during this time, here or anywhere, do not assume it is related to this work. It may not be and needs to be checked. Act immediately and ring the gas emergency service on 0800 111 999*, day or night.

It is a good idea to save that number into your phone now, so it’s there should you ever need it in future.