Vital link road may be closed ‘for years’

And the closure of the top section of Wild Lane – also known as the Moss Road – will leave parts of Heyhouses Lane and Queensway heavily congested as they struggle to cope with traffic heading from the towns to the motorway.

The road was shut to motorists last month after surface issues led to two accidents. Now, Fylde Coun Paul Hayhurst (pictured) has raised the spectre of the road being left in limbo for the foreseeable future.

He said: “Once the county council has sorted out how much it will cost, where will the funding come from?

“I am very pessimistic the road will ever be rebuilt.

“It’s a rebuild job rather than repair. In the next five to 10 years, we’ll have the Premium Bonds development, including a Booths supermarket, as well as the Queensway site. We are at saturation point and will soon be heading for gridlock.”

A link road is to be created on Wild Lane by Kensington Homes as part of the 1,150 homes Queensway development – but under a housing agreement with Fylde Council, this work only will start once a certain number of homes are built.

Coun Hayhurst said following budget cuts, 19 of 20 road resurfacing jobs in Fylde have been put back to next year – including Heyhouses Lane. He added public money is earmarked for other routes – with funding “very unlikely” for the Moss Road.

Mr Hayhurst added: “It’s interesting to note when Queensway first wished to build in St Annes, the county council said 375 homes was the maximum the road network there could cope with – with the Moss Road open.

“Now, we have around 250 homes to be built at the Premium Bonds and many more to come in Queensway, with just one road at present to connect that part of town to Blackpool and the motorway.”

Dawn Prestwich, ward councillor for the area, said: “Many people I have spoken to want clarification on this – at the moment people are completely in limbo. We just have no idea when the road will re-open.”