The Preston Western Distributor Road (PWDR), scheduled to open early in 2023, is a £200m road scheme and the biggest new road programme in the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal.
It will link the A583 and the M55 motorway and will involve the construction a new motorway junction, four new bridges and three underpasses.
The scheme also includes two new roads connecting to new and existing housing areas in North West Preston and Cottam. Lancashire County Council says the new East-West Link Road and Cottam Link Road will provide "convenient access" to the Preston Western Distributor, avoiding already congested local routes.
These are the latest pictures of the PWDR as construction continues and significant milestones are reached...
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1.
The new Becconsall Bridge will span the M55, connecting the new Junction 2 to the PWDR. It is constructed from 4 pairs of weathering steel girders, each 48m long and 6ft high. The deck will consist of pre-cast concrete planks spanning girder to girder, which will be covered with an in-situ reinforced concrete deck
2.
The cattle creep is now complete and is proving popular with the cows at Earl's Farm, off Sidgreaves Lane in Lea. It provides access to the farm for moving cattle and is located under part of the new Cottam Link Road. Total length of the Cattle Creep is 38.27m, with a width of 3.7m and height of 3.8m.
3.
The new Saddle roundabout opened on Saturday, May 29, making it the first part of the PWDR project that can be driven on
4.
The new roundabout in Lea Lane, between the Sitting Goose pub and the Saddle Inn, will eventually form one of the main gateways of the project, linking the PWDR to the surrounding area as well as the future East-West Link Road, relieving congestion on many of the smaller rural roads
5.
Progress on the roundabout has been quick and has taken just over one year to complete the formation of the new roundabout layout and realignment of several sections of existing road
6.
Over the coming months there will be a number of other milestones reached on the project, with the new Becconsall Bridge beams being installed in June and the new Savick Viaduct beams installed from July