Demolishing the Churchill Way Flyover could pave the way for a city centre "green oasis" and "clean air zone" - where some cars may be banned.
Highways bosses promised to turn the flyover plans into a positive after it was revealed demolishing and remodelling the area could cost cash-strapped Liverpool City Council more than £10m.
The huge bill was revealed at a regeneration and select committee meeting last night and includes the price of taking down the decrepit infrastructure and remodelling the junctions and footbridges underneath.
The council's head of highways, Andy Barr, said "rough estimates" included a £6m bill to demolish the flyover , £5m each to rebuild new junctions, and a £2-3m bill to replace the pedestrian footbridges that also cross the busy main roads by the flyovers.
Updating the committee on how the council would pay for this, Cllr James Noakes , cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "Unfortunately there’s no specific external funding. It’s going to have to come out of our highways capital programme.
"At the same time we are speaking to the combined authority and others around what kind of funding they can assist us with.
"There was meant to be a fund regarding structures that the government was going to release.
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"Apparently they have been quite distracted with what is going on in Westminster.
"The hidden side of Brexit is the fact that whilst they are squabbling like kids, the rest of the country is trying to get on with stuff and local councils are having to pick up the pieces.
"We are looking to see what other funding could come forward. It was an unexpected issue and one that if we are being brutally honest, we could have done without, but now we are here we have to deal with it."
The 1960s flyovers were closed last September for urgent safety checks.
Engineers who drilled into the structures found they were poorly built, are cracking and rusting, and showing signs of "structural distress ".
Liverpool Council said the "significant defects" meant they can’t be saved, and repairing or replacing them could cost up to £60m.
Cllr Noakes said demolishing the flyover was a chance to do "something better" with the space, after fellow Labour Councillor Peter Mitchell quizzed him over historic proposals to turn the flyover into "green oasis".
The committee was told that demolishing the flyover will allow the city council to reconfigure how traffic comes into the city centre, making a potential ban on some vehicles driving in the city centre more feasible. This will run alongside a master plan to re-develop the area - including possible new green space.
Cllr Noakes said: "There’s problems stacking up but I am determined now to see it as an opportunity to do something better round there.
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"There's an opportunity now to look at how we reconfigure some of the traffic round there, but it's also going to be part of a wider push to reduce traffic in the city centre full stop, not only because of the problems that we face with congestion but also the challenges we face around air quality.
"The mayor has been on record before this about the potential for banning vehicles within the city centre anyway, It feels like only time will tell before they [clean air zones] will come to us."
Cllr Noakes later clarified that a "clean air zone" was still "a long way away", but revealed the council were carrying out surveys monitoring air quality to assess the feasibility.
Other long term aspirations for the flyover include a new development or open space at the site, which highways chief Andy Barr said local residents and stakeholders will be "significantly consulted on".
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Cllr Noakes continued: "There are communities around there that have effectively been shut off from the city centre despite living round there, we need to look at ways of engaging them.
"I'm determined that this isn't something that is just seen as a traffic and highways solution, that is something that works for all the stakeholders round there and the residents as well."
