A £19 MILLION solution to the town's traffic nightmare could be completed by 2018.

Proposals for the Centre Park link scheme will come before the executive board at the Town Hall on Monday and see a bridge cross the Mersey off Chester Road – cutting the volume of cars clogging Bridge Foot.

The 'preferred location' of the crossing will be from the junction of Chester Road and Gainsborough Road to the southern end of Centre Park.

The project is also being tipped to deliver 630 homes over five to seven years after completion, which is tipped to be in mid-2018.

Current empty office space in Centre Park will be used better to boost job prospects and temporary employment opportunities will be created during construction.

Of the £19.35 million, £5.3 million will be funded through the Local Growth Fund and £10.19 million from the council's capital programme, with a proposed £2.41 million to come from developer funding.

The ambitious phase of the Warrington Waterfront was priced at £11 million last October but has incurred increases due to the 'additional improvements'.

The link is designed to provide additional highway capacity for motorists by offering 'relief' to the areas surrounding the 'heavily congested' Chester Road, Bridge Foot and Brian Bevan Island.

Cllr Hans Mundry, executive member for highways, transportation and public realm, will set out the details of the plans to members.

When built the area will be home to a new 'three-arm signalised junction', with full pedestrian crossing facilities between Chester Road and the bridge.

The report adds: "The scheme will include a package of measures to mitigate the predicted impact of the scheme on Gainsborough Road.

"As part of the public consultation for the scheme residents and businesses in this area will be asked for their view on options such as traffic calming and other traffic management measures.

"The proposed new link will be open to through traffic in a southbound direction only.

"This is due to the constraints that the existing road alignment at the northern side of Slutchers Lane impose.

"The northbound traffic will be stopped at the existing rail station car park entrance."

A 'robust' public consultation is set to commence after the meeting and will run until December.

The board is recommended to approve the alignment of the new link, in particular the location of the crossing of the River Mersey, and to review traffic improvements.

Talks from officials have also been ongoing over a second bridge in the town, a high-level crossing over the Manchester Ship Canal, which could be built within a decade.

The Centre Park link development ties in with the Birchwood pinch point, M62 junction eight and Warrington West railway station projects.

The cost for all four is currently priced at £50.39 million.