Birkenhead Tunnel Flyovers Part 1

50 years ago work started...
On 15th July 1969 the Queensway Tunnel approach roads and flyovers were opened to traffic. Their aim was to reduce traffic congestion in the town centre, and in particular the arterials of Chester Street, Borough Road and Conway Street.
Work took a couple of years, and as soon as this was nearing completion, the Grange Precinct was starting and so a lot of old housing stock and shops went the way of the demolition man.
I was granted some unprecedented access to the works at the time. Here I have compiled some of my own unpublished pictures and videos of the flyovers over a number of years and presented them as a KZbin for your enjoyment.
This is Part 1, concentrating on Conway Street, and published on the 48th anniversary of their opening, although a public viewing took place a few days before. I hope to produce a Part 2, concentrating on Borough Road - providing this one goes well.

[@peninsulageneralgoodsstore]

Atmosphere, the Drome, Sherlocks, Pinks, watching Star Wars. All reminds me of the fly over

[@rayruddy4020]

Watched star wars in the classic cinema 🎥 yes happy days

[@gerardbyrne4613]

Thanks goodness it was demolished - eyesore on the landscape - now we can see the Victorian buildings in Conway Street in all of their beauty. A madman in the council must have originally sanctioned that monstrosity!

[@daviddalton3567]

I worked on the Birkenhead News as a photographer around that time . I thought the area and the people were great . Some wonderful pubs . It suffered from generations of terrible council decisions from Oak and Eldon Gardens to the ruination of Grange Road . This is the problem with local poilticians of no abilty making their 'mark'

[@busterabcat]

They're still as bad now - they've just cut down all the trees left along the remnants of Grange Road just to put a few new lamp posts up that aren't even needed - wasting tax payers money as they are always so good at doing. Nothing changes there. They've practically killed the market as all the traders are leaving in droves. We don't need this council or our overpaid councillors anymore, they're are useless.

[@gbwildlifeuk8269]

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, said: "Since I was elected, I've made it a priority to help get our towns on the up and we're investing over £8m to help regenerate this part of Birkenhead. "This is the difference that devolution can make, with local people in charge of how money is spent in our area. "When it is finished, this project should help to breathe new life into the area, create hundreds of affordable homes for local people and bring communities closer together." Yeah right! Where are these homes then bringing communities together?

[@busterabcat]

He talks a good talk does Rotheram. None of them are up for the job. Council and politicians just spout the usual claptrap, paying lip service to consultants and pocket the brown envelopes - and all the while one by one our community assets close and become derelict or knocked down....

[@rollacoastaride1937]

wow, some cool memories here, my Ma was the cleaning supervisor in the top rank bingo for years, it was like her second home, but yeah, good stuff, thanks for sharing

[@z0m123]

A place I drive every night to get home and i never new a flyover ever existed there in the past

[@ian1332]

The Town i Loved So Well :((

[@busterabcat]

Always love seeing these old videos of how our towns and cities and infrastructure used to be. Living on the Wirral I haven't forgotten the drastic changes that have taken place in Birkenhead (and Wallasey) between the early 1970s and the present, and sometimes not always for the best. Thanks to council incompetence and negligence over the last 30+ years the town centres have become depressing run down, litter strewn derelict wastelands. The streets were actually cleaner and tidier in the 1970s for crying out loud! One small problem though: the dated sounding electronic music used here is just wrong.... it does nothing to enhance the footage and it's badly edited too (repeated). Could have done with a far more sympathetic soundtrack.

[@cambridgeblue3862]

I generally agree with you. Unfortunately, this was complied using some old software which I don't use now, so I can't just go and edit it, as much as I wish I could. Time for version two, perhaps...

[@Jordy5121_]

Where is part 2? I want to see what the clock tower looks like in the 90’s and central hotel!

[@slackalice100]

The flyovers were a terrible waste of money, as was the calling forward system on the Tunnel Plazas. Quietly scrapped once the contractors proved it worked to specification. Trouble is the specification was wrong!

[@lou4tea]

Be good to keep these videos the council are pulling these down soon the wirral globe said these flyovers are part of birkenhead be a shame to see them go after all those years there stood tall for almost 60 years or more I love birkenhead it's a great shopping center my home town xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[@rosemcevoy4341]

Darren gee

[@anthonyjones6444]

It doesn't make any sense why it was demolished..? The traffic is horrendous on this part of Conway street now!

[@davphi6103]

Very little of what they have done to old Birkenhead makes sense.

[@CAShton124]

@@davphi6103 They've totally destroyed it, ignored the decaying retail area that's the old shopping centre and instead of revitalising it they're going to woodside and the old docks, and threatened to demolish the market

[@terrydobbins7074]

It was a big scar on birkenhead and was a waste of time and money ,Should never have been built