On 24 October 2017, Highways England published notification that the preferred route for the £100m, A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool Bypass Improvement Scheme had been chosen. Now, at Christmas 2023 the new carriageway will be opened to traffic for the first time.
A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool Bypass
Update December 2023
Highways England has announced that the Windy Harbour to Skippool bypass will be opened to users for the first time. Week commencing Monday 18 December 2023 it will be opened in phases while construction is finished along the route. Initially motorists will be restricted to single file lanes and a 30mph speed limit.
Garstang New Road will be closed between Singleton crossroads (at the petrol station) and the new bypass in an easterly direction. Drivers wishing to access Mains Lane will use the Skippool Bridge or Poulton junctions.
Still underway:
- Skippool and Skippool Bridge junctions
Completing traffic islands and installing permanent traffic lights at both locations - Lodge Lane
Final landscaping and constructing a noise barrier on both the west and eastbound carriageway - Poulton junction
Completing the traffic island and the installing a safety barrier and permanent traffic lights - Windy Harbour
Completing the eastbound carriageway, including the installation of kerbs - Planting
The team will continue to plant thousands of trees, plants and shrubs
When it becomes fully operational later this winter, all four lanes will be in use at the national speed limit (70mph). The speed limit will be reduced to 50mph on the approach to Poulton junction and 40mph towards Skippool junction.
Spring 2022 Update
By Spring 2022, work is well underway. The roundabout at the River Wyre pub is taking shape and progressing elsewhere on route.
Take a look at the project teams update bulletin, issued on 1 March.
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The team have also uncovered some interesting archaeological finds too. The excavations have taken place near Lodge Lane – near pin number 6 on the above map. Here’s just one of the things they found –
Planning and Developing
The Southern Route was chosen, to create a new bypass to the south of the current route.
This includes:
- upgrading a section of road from Windy Harbour junction to a dual-carriageway,
- then moving on to a new stretch of road with a junction at Garstang New Road,
- bypassing Little Singleton and creating a new junction with the A586 Garstang Road East,
- before tying back into the existing road at a new junction east of Skippool.
The Better Option
While it’s the most expensive option, the southern bypass does more to reduce congestion, reduce journey time and improve safety overall. It will better support the proposed developments further north on the Fylde peninsula, by increasing the overall capacity of the road. Option 1 also provides the most improvements to pedestrians and cyclists, as it will take traffic away from the existing A585.
Need for A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool Road Improvement Scheme
It’s a heavily congested route between the Fylde Coast, Thornton, Poulton and the M55 motorway and drivers frequently experience significant delays, particularly during morning and evening rush hours.
Aims of the scheme are to:
- Reduce congestion especially around Little Singleton, Shard Road and Skippool junctions
- Make journey times more reliable
- Support the economic growth potential in both Wyre and Fylde
- Support planned residential developments in the local area
- Improve the safety of non-motorised users around the existing A585
Two options were developed which were presented to the public. A period of consultation was held from 5 September to 17 October 2016 to gather opinions to help inform the option selection process.
How to Find out More about the A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool Road Improvement Scheme
Highways England have continued to engage with residents as the design for the scheme develops.
Information about the project is available online . You can receive updates about the scheme by signing up for the newsletter on the same page.
You can get in touch with them using any of the following methods:
- Email: A585WindyHarbourtoSkippool@highwaysengland.co.uk
- Telephone: 0300 123 5000 (9.00am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday)
While you’re here…
Go to the homepage of the Visit Poulton website for the latest updates.
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What an absolute waste of money.
could have improved new lay out . roundabout . roundabout,roundabout roundabout
roundabout .
Took 19 months to build 55 miles of the MI in the early 1960s .A585 at just over 3miles 3 years and still not quite completed. I think some may call this an advancement with all the new equipment and advanced planning these days.
Worth a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8iLRrt_4Jw This is the promotional video for the first 55 miles of the M1 built in 19 months. This A585windy-harbour-to-skippool-bypass at just over 3 miles is 3 years on as of December 2023 and still not quite complete .Oh how times have changed.
This scheme is utter crap, already the new junction at River Wyre is creating huge congestion,especially down Breck rd.When the lights dont work…Guess what? the traffic flows,this is the worst scheme you could conceive a balloon with a funnel at each end.And….the junction at the M55 will be overloaded in the moring and this has been predicated.Its a crackpot scheme….when its complete there will be MASSIVE PUBLIC OUTRAGE.
totally agree
Dual carriageway down to single road at Windy Harbour going to the M55… The bottleneck will remain at that junction, especially at the Fleetwood Rd / Church Road right turn to the Council Yard and Glasform. One car turning right there, backs the traffic up to Singleton….
You need to widen that juntion to include a right turn lane, allowing the motorway traffic to flow past…..
the only reason for it being built is to release land for development i.e. housing nothing to day with traffic improvement it will most likely make it worse, it will be chaos at windy harbour junction
Whoever thought that a traffic light controlled X Roads will make traffic flow better than a roundabout is seriously deluded, the traffic queues there now are horrendous. Guess that’s what happens when you employ kids straight from UNI to do grown ups work
What an absolute waste of time and money this new road layout will be. All it will do is move the traffic jam from Mains Lane to the Windy Harbour junction and beyond.where it will be worse than ever. Way to go planners, this useless, expensive and late development is only going to be of any use if you own one of the expensive houses on Mains Lane.
Using an inflation correction on cost it would seem that working in reverse the cost of the A585 at about £162m would have built approximately 20 miles of motorway in 1960 .This was calculated using figures readily available on the internet.
I would think that the plant hire is daily and to use it for just a third of the hours is a waste of money why can’t the workforce work 24/7 this would save 2/3 of the cost of the plant hire every day
when was this photo taken , no traffic queuing or has it been photo shopped
A great road for Poulton people, bet were all glad we dont live in Fleetwood as the road wont do them any favours with that traffic calming new roundabout they are building.
I am still trying to workout how a 4 Lane road (new bypass) helps going into a 2 Lane road at Skippool