A new tunnel into Liverpool could transform a gateway into the city

A key entrance to Liverpool could be transformed if a council funding bid for a new tunnel is successful.

Cabinet member for transport James Noakes confirmed that the council is preparing a bid for plans that would see the Queens Drive flyover demolished and the M62 taken into a tunnel near the Rocket.

Speaking at a council meeting earlier this month, he said the plans would look to improve the flow of traffic at a key city junction.

Councillor Noakes said the plans could result in the surface level junction on Queens Drive becoming quieter.

He said: "It is our long term desire to get rid of the Queen's Drive flyover - and we are putting in a bid for the project through Transport for the North.

"We are looking at £105m to take the M62 in to a tunnel in that area instead so that hopefully Queen's Drive will become a much more local junction."

The council have not released any further details of the plans, which are in their early stages.

But councillor Noakes said changes in the area, which he called a gateway to the city, have to work for the people living nearby.

The M62 currently starts at junction five near the Rocket pub, with Queens Drive carried over the motorway on a flyover.

The proposal to get rid of the Queens Drive flyover comes as work continues to prepare the Churchill Flyovers for demolition.

Those structures, which start at the end of Dale Street, were found to be unsafe last year and will be demolished.

The Queens Drive flyover was inspected afterwards but was found to be safe.