Work starts on £150 million A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool bypass

Work has started on a new £150 million bypass and junction on the Fylde coast
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The project on the A585 has commenced after the government approved it last month. It is expected to take three years to complete.

Highways England’s Windy Harbour to Skippool improvement, which is hoped will ease journeys along one of the busiest sections of the A585 between the M55 and Fleetwood – was approved by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on April 9 after a planning inspectorate examination last year.

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Highways England’s senior project manager Jonathan Stokes said: “The new road and associated improvements will tackle existing congestion, help secure and improve opportunities for housing and jobs, and contribute to improved connections to the motorway network.

The new A585 junction plan near SingletonThe new A585 junction plan near Singleton
The new A585 junction plan near Singleton

“While it will be several months before local people and other road users will be able to see very much going on along the route we’ll be producing a regular project newsletter to keep people informed.”

Highways England said that although significant roadworks are several months away, key preparation work has started at the site with construction workers operating to government guidance related to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The work includes constructing a project site office and continuing archaeological investigations along the path of the 70mph dual carriageway new bypass south of Little Singleton.

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To mark the start of the work, a project newsletter has been published and is being delivered to thousands of homes across the area from today.

Some of the plans include the busy roundabout at Skippool, at the western end of the new bypass, which will be removed and the junction remodelled and managed with traffic signals instead

The new road and improvements to the junctions at Windy Harbour and Skippool are expected to take about three years.

Work will initially be undertaken away from the existing road before moving on to reconfiguring the existing junction at Skippool and creating new junctions at Skippool bridge and Garstang Road.

Finally, the existing route will be converted to a local road with enhanced provision for walking and cycling.