A585 and Fylde

[wrinkly]

A consultation has started on A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool.

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... provements

Options are online improvement (including a giant gyratory with the A586) or a southern bypass.

We don't seem to have a thread on the A585 and rather than create a thread just for this scheme I thought I'd create a more general one. We have threads for roads around Preston but not Blackpool/Fleetwood.

[Bryn666]

1B gets my vote.

[Haydn1971]

I'm surprised that's still trunk !

[Bryn666]

Do the DfT have big plans for Fleetwood I wonder?

[wrinkly]

1B gets my vote.

Wouldn't that be a bit awkward for buses?

I'm surprised that's still trunk !

Me too. Maybe the Permanent Secretary likes Fisherman's Friends?

[Bryn666]

It is a bit of a fuss for buses but given the volumes of traffic squeezing through this length it strikes me that bus patronage is low anyway - this is wealthy territory with 5 bed detached houses not unusual.

I'm presuming the HA proposed to grade separate the junction with the A586, although I am more likely to find it an at-grade job aren't I?

One GSJ would work fat better than two, as the document itself says, you won't reduce traffic in the village if you can use it as a short-cut. That will be pivotal to gaining local support.

[Owain]

Do the DfT have big plans for Fleetwood I wonder?

I went to Fleetwood once when I was living in Lancaster. The A585 does a good job of getting you there. However, once at the destination it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment: it's a town with no people.

[Bryn666]

Probably why it was lumped in with Lancaster in the 2010 review of constituency boundaries. It had the dubious honour if being a constituency where you had to pass through another one to get to the other part... much like Rossendale and Darwen.

[wrinkly]

It is a bit of a fuss for buses but given the volumes of traffic squeezing through this length it strikes me that bus patronage is low anyway - this is wealthy territory with 5 bed detached houses not unusual.

I'm presuming the HA proposed to grade separate the junction with the A586, although I am more likely to find it an at-grade job aren't I?

One GSJ would work fat better than two, as the document itself says, you won't reduce traffic in the village if you can use it as a short-cut. That will be pivotal to gaining local support.

Have you watched the video which shows flat junctions, or are you referring to previous proposals?

[Norfolktolancashire]

Do the DfT have big plans for Fleetwood I wonder?

I went to Fleetwood once when I was living in Lancaster. The A585 does a good job of getting you there. However, once at the destination it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment: it's a town with no people.

The road itself is very busy as it is the main route out of the Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Thornton, Poulton residential areas to the M55. Many years ago it was due for D2, but dropped. Saying that the port at Fleetwood has now closed (Heysham having better links nearby) and there is little commercial traffic using the road now.

Fleetwood itself is a bit of a one horse (or fish!) town.

[Bryn666]

I hadn't watched the video as was on my phone earlier but no surprise there aren't any GSJs...

[A5104]

What's the local support like for this? Thinking of how long it has taken to get the Heysham by-pass built 2020 sounds a bit optimistic! Heysham only needed one vociferous local to keep stalling the statutory process.

[Bryn666]

I have a friend who lives on the existing road at Singleton. Maybe I should canvass her opinion!

[jackal]

The consultation document is pretty useless. You have to watch the video to have any idea what the junction layouts are like, and even then it does not actually state that this is option 1 so the junctions could be entirely different.

[wrinkly]

It also has text saying the junctions could be entirely different.

[jackal]

The consultation report has now been published. 78% are in favour of option 1 (bypass), with a large plurality (49%) for 1A. A stakeholder suggested a GSJ at the A586:

HE's response:

A grade separated junction at Garstang Road East (Poulton Junction) would improve flows on the bypass but
this form of junction is more expensive than a roundabout or traffic signal junction. In addition, the layout
with a pair of 5 arm dumb-bell roundabouts would have to be large to operate effectively and link over
the bypass. As such, these roundabouts on embankments up to 10m high would encroach into the Main
Dyke flood plain. Also, the westward link road connecting to Garstang Road East would have to extend
beyond the bridge over Main Dyke that would require a replacement bridge over that watercourse.
Consequently this suggestion is not considered to be viable.

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... report.pdf

[Bryn666]

In other words... "we like it but politicians will say no".

[Truvelo]

The 5 arm roundabout can be reduced to 4 if Garstang Road was severed instead of Mains Lane.

[wrinkly]

Preferred route announced though some options still under investigation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dual ... mprovement

[Norfolktolancashire]

I have today received the document by post, of interest is the potential new short link from the A585 to the A588 Shard Road, avoiding the residential area.

It will be also interesting how any new traffic surveys show an increase in commercial traffic due to the Fracking sites that will open up in the area.