Call to back blue route for A585

Coun Maxine Chew from Singleton said work to ease traffic at pinch points on the A585 together with the recent government announcement of up to £50m for a Singleton by-pass would not solve traffic flow issues.

She said the county council was currently formulating a roads master plan for Fylde and the old “blue route” solution for traffic flow near Poulton - a new road through farmers’ fields from the M55 at Weeton to Garstang Road near Poulton - should remain protected.

She said: “Traffic jams have been an issue here for 30 years. and some of it is because Wyre and Fylde councils could never agree about solutions.

“The pinch point work will not be a solution and £50m is unlikely to be enough to pay for a bypass and I can’t see where it is going to go.

“It is like sticking plasters on a huge wound.”

She said although traffic may be speeded up at the pinch points, the road drops back to two lanes in places such as at Greenhalgh and traffic would just jam up again.

“The realistic solution is the Blue Route and the only way is if residents stand up and tell the county council the current situation is not acceptable and that it must be retained in the master plan”.

Stalmine resident Mike Berry was also critical of the approach to the A585.

He said: “The traffic has been terrible with the road works, the sewage works and recent gully cleaning. It took me one and a half hours to get from Shard Bridge to the M55 last Tuesday.

“It is affecting the economy of north Blackpool, Wyre and parts of the Fylde.”

Residents can have their say at a series of roadshows including at St John’s, Church Street, Blackpool, on Wednesday, January 28 from 2pm to 7pm; at Poulton Library, Blackpool Old Road, on Thursday, January 29, from 2pm to 7pm and at Fleetwood Library, North Albert Street, on February 3 from 2pm to 6.45pm.