Construction Underway on £150m Bypass

The first phase of major construction works at the new £150 million A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool bypass has begun.

The road will bypass Little Singleton village with a new dual carriageway linked to new junction arrangements along the existing A585 at Windy Harbour and Skippool. The project is set to ease congestion, support the economy as well as improving safety around Poulton-le-Fylde.

Work on the new road began on 1^st Feb 2021 with the removal of the existing roundabout at Skippool where the A585 meets the A588 local road. At the same time, the construction of the new bypass to the south of Little Singleton has also started, with construction on a new junction with the A586 serving Poulton-le-Fylde, which is a key feature of the new road.

The roundabout at Skippool is being replaced by a fully signalised crossroads. Work is also taking place between the existing roundabout and Skippool Bridge junction to convert a short section of the existing single carriageway into a dual carriageway, which will form the western link with the new bypass. Narrow lanes will be in place throughout the works.

Highways England Senior Project Manager Jon Stokes said: “Starting work to transform Skippool junction is a key milestone for the project. While we will also be staring work on the new bypass away from the existing road, drivers will notice a considerable increase in activity along the A585 as we start to re-shape the road between Skippool Bridge and Skippool junctions.

“We are starting this work during lockdown to take advantage of lower traffic levels, but we are mindful that people still rely on the road and we’ll are doing all we can to keep traffic moving safely and smoothly past the roadworks.”

Along with replacing the roundabout with new traffic lights, the work between Skippool and Skippool Bridge involves widening the road, as well as creating a new bridge, to accommodate the new dual carriageway. Narrow lanes will be in place here to ensure that construction teams have enough room to carry out the road widening as well as the bridge building north of the existing route. Before the end of 2021, traffic will be moved onto the new northern sections of the road to allow the rest of the dual carriageway and bridge works to be completed south of the existing route.

During the construction work around Skippool, there will be a temporary 30 mph speed limit in place at all approaches to the roundabout and sections of footway will also be closed on Mains Lane, with a  temporary pedestrian crossing being installed just west of Shard Road.

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