THE timetable to build the new Mersey crossing has been put back by 12 months, it has been revealed.
The huge project has been delayed because of extra studies ordered by the Department of Transport.
Supporters of the proposed £335m crossing had hoped it would be open in time for Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008.
But Halton Borough Council leader Tony McDermott told business leaders on Friday that the target was now a 2009 opening.
He said the likelihood of a public inquiry and the extra work demanded on how the bridge will be built and paid for is responsible for the hold-up.
At a briefing on the bridge's progress he said: 'We were very keen to have it as part of the Capital of Culture in 2008 and there's a chance we could still play a part in that, but I can't see it being open to traffic in 2008.'
He said the current Silver Jubilee Bridge, which carried 9,000 vehicles a day when it opened in 1962 and now carries 10 times that figure, had to undergo 1,000 repairs last year.
And further chaos is on the cards in July when 12 weeks of repairs begin to replace 10 expansion joints.
One of the issues the Government wants the Mersey Crossing Partnership to consider is whether to charge tolls on the crossing. But Cllr McDermott said: 'Our ambition is still to have a free-to-use bridge.'
Partnership chief executive Thomas O'Brien added: 'The Silver Jubilee Bridge is a clogged artery that is choking the health of the Merseyside economy.'
Chairman Roy Morris said: 'If we were in America this bridge would be up in three years, but I think I will still be talking about this in three years.'
