The opening of the East Lancs Road - 90 years on

Newspapers dubbed the 30-mile artery connecting Liverpool and Manchester "one of the greatest single jobs in the history of road-making", although it was quite different to the East Lancs that we know today.

As well as only being a single carriageway, the road was for over twenty years unlit at night – at least on the 2½-mile stretch that ran adjacent to St Helens.

But its construction was a great blessing for the town as it allowed much traffic to bypass it.

The first reference in the St Helens Reporter to the new highway was published in August 1922 when the project was simply an idea. The paper wrote: "The proposed new main road between Liverpool and Manchester is of great interest to St. Helens. If carried out it will very much relieve the heavy motor haulage traffic which now passes through the town."

Every day over 4,000 vehicles of all kinds – from bicycles to lorries – were travelling through the junction by the Sefton Arms in St Helens. And many of those that went past what locals dubbed "suicide corner" were heavy vehicles that were commuting to other Lancashire towns.

But in an article headlined "New Main Road To Manchester – Will Big Scheme Materialise", the Reporter on September 1 1922 mused over whether the proposals would ever be turned into action. But they said if the several local authorities that the carriageway would traverse co-operated to make the scheme work, large numbers of unemployed St Helens men could be found work in building the road.

Then on February 7 1923 St Helens Town Council discussed their financial contribution to the building of what was then known as the Liverpool to Manchester main road. It was agreed to pay a sum equal to the proceeds of a penny rate over a 30-year period. Ald.

Forster told his colleagues that although such a commitment might appear a large financial undertaking it would be a wise investment for St Helens to make.

The whole road took 2,000 men four years to build and in today's money its construction cost nearly £300 million.

As always with progress there is a price to be paid and 135 houses along the whole route needed to be demolished.

This photo of the East Lancs Road from July 1934 is taken from Windle Hall Bridge and looks towards Manchester (Image: Stephen Wainwright)

During the 1950s the East Lancs became highly controversial. A large number of accidents were occurring on its St Helens' stretch and the highway was consequently dubbed a "death road". Post-war austerity was blamed for delaying safety measures and it took nearly twenty years from the opening of the East Lancs before traffic lights were installed.

Many living on the large housing estate at Carr Mill needed to cross the East Lancs to get to work – and so did schoolchildren. When Queen Elizabeth visited St Helens in 1954 she expressed concern over the safety of youngsters forced to walk over the road in order to get to their school.

In 1955 St Helens Police declared the East Lancashire Road to be the only unlit thoroughfare in the town and confirmed it as a major black spot for accidents. Then in the following year Henry Latus, the St Helens Road Safety Officer, said: "This length of road has always been my biggest worry. If we were to have the fullest degree of safety there would be a dual carriageway and an efficient lighting system on the East Lancashire Road, and local foot and motor traffic would pass underneath."

It took time but Mr Latus's common sense wish list would eventually be granted.

A St Helens Reporter article from September 1, 1922 (Image: Stephen Wainwright)

Stephen Wainwright's new book The Hidden History Of St Helens Vol 4 is available from the St Helens Book Stop in Bridge Street and online from eBay and Amazon with free delivery. Price £12. Vols 1 to 3 are also still available