A SECOND Mersey bridge could receive outline government approval within just two weeks, it has been revealed.
Supporters of the Mersey Gateway campaign are hoping to receive the green light before a general election is called, almost certainly in early April.
On Saturday a speciallycommissioned VLM flight from John Lennon Airport (JLA) took invited guests from key public and private bodies on a 30-minute flight over the site of the current bridge - and the nearby site of the intended new crossing.
Cllr Tony McDermott, chairman of the Mersey Gateway Campaign and leader of Halton Council, told guests: "We delivered a full set of documents to the Department for Transport a few months ago and we are hopeful of a decision within the next couple of weeks.
"If we have to resort to a Plan B then it will have to come from the Government but I don't think they will turn us down."
Cllr McDermott also criticised the authors of the recentlyproduced Northern Way document which failed to give any prominence to a second crossing.
"They have a lot to learn," he said. "This crossing is one of the most important schemes because it actually links the northern way to the southern way."
As captain Phil Greenfield made several passes over the Mersey Estuary at just 700ft, Halton's chief executive, David Parr, spoke of the key regional economic sites which would benefit from the improved links a second bridge would deliver.
The planned Ditton strategic rail freight terminal, Daresbury Park and the Jaguar plant at Halewood were just three of those he highlighted.
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