MPs Mark Menzies and Paul Maynard react to A585 Windy Harbour Bypass being fully opened

The new multi million pound upgrade, built around the village of Little Singleton, is one of the biggest highways projects on the Fylde coast for years.

Approximately three miles of new road has been added around the village, bringing much-needed capacity to deliver smoother and more reliable journeys. 

Since the first spade hit the ground in this transformative National Highways scheme, the workforce has built three bridges, laid 100,000 tonnes of road surface material, recycled around 500,000 tonnes of site material (equivalent to the weight of more than 1,000 jumbo jets) and utilised more than 25 local companies.

The bypass is intended to reduce congestion and improve safety, while removing a major bottleneck on the main road to Fleetwood and combating the heavy traffic that traditionally builds between Windy Harbour and Skippool during peak traffic hours.  

However, the project has not been without its probems and after a phased opening before Christmas, there were complaints that it had made congestion and journeys even longer than they had been.

Nationbal Highways sought to reassure motorists that this was simply down to teething problems.

National Highways Senior Project Manager Tom Peckitt

Mr Peckitt said: "We are absolutely thrilled to fully open the bypass to road users. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work and, crucially, a lot of patience and understanding from residents and road users alike. 

“We would like to thank them for bearing with us while we put the finishing touches to this highly complex engineering project. Their patience will be rewarded with vastly improved journeys.” 

National Highways has worked in partnership with Kier to deliver the bypass.

What Jon Hornsby, project director at Kier said

Mr Hornby said: “This has been a great project to deliver and we’re really pleased to open it to road users. Those working on the project, including our teams and our supply chain partners have showcased a high level of technical expertise throughout.

“The team was also able to leave a positive lasting legacy from community engagement initiatives including school visits, work experience, work placements and fundraising, using local small and medium-sized enterprises and more.” 

What Fylde MP Mark Menzies said

Mr Menzies said: “It is fantastic to see the bypass fully open and operational, reducing congestion and speeding up journey times. As the second of three major highways projects, Fylde is benefitting from hundreds of millions of pounds of investment that will boost jobs and investment. The A585 bypass will make it easier for working people, school pupils and visitors to travel around the north of Fylde, improving links between some of our more rural communities with Poulton and other larger towns.”

Paul Maynard, MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Mr Maynard commented: "I am grateful for the hard work which has gone into this project. Local motorists have been very patient awaiting the full opening of the bypass, which represents a landmark moment. It is important the new road delivers the promised benefits and the work to achieve that continues.”

The bypass was opened in a phased approach before Christmas, but this full opening means drivers can enjoy the benefit of all four lanes and new junctions. 

Finishing work will be carried out at the Shard and Little Singleton junctions, and along Mains Lane. The improvements to Mains Lane will reflect its new function as a local road which will be handed back to Lancashire County Council. 

Landscaping works also continue, such as finishing the planting of 72,000 trees and shrubs. Most of this work will be away from the road but may require occasional lane closures on the bypass to keep our workforce safe.

You can visit the scheme webpage at https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/north-west/a585-windy-harbour-to-skippool/   

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