Starting from the A583 roundabout to the west of Kirkham, the A585 travels northwest on the west Kirkham bypass built around 1991. The road originally started on that road in the centre of Kirkham and was then extended east to the edge of Newton-with-Scales when the A583 southern bypass was built.
The route continues past junction 3 of the M55 and through several villages. Recent junction improvements have helped reduce the congestion in these villages as the road is the major route from the M55 to the port of Fleetwood. Years ago there were plans to build an offline D2 from the motorway towards Fleetwood but the plan has not seen the light of day until the late 2010's when a off line D2 has been proposed from the A586 junction towards Fleetwood. The route continues past Windy Harbour Holiday Park, where the A586 joins for a mile before heading off towards Blackpool tower! The A585 carries on along a bendy S2, while the A588 goes off to the east over the modern Shard Bridge crossing of the river Wyre.
Going past a large pub and around a roundabout, the A585 skirts the northern edge of Poulton Le Fylde on a bypass probably built around 1970 and crosses a defunct railway on a bridge large enough for a D2 road (remember earlier what was said about an offline D2). The road carries on through the 1980s housing estates of Thornton and Cleveleys to Fleetwood, some of this has improved traffic signal junctions on a short D2 section. A S2 bypasses the worst of Fleetwood allowing commercial traffic to reach the port without travelling through the suburbs. There is a lot of dereliction on this part of the route; Fleetwood was once a major fish landing port and on a main railway route from London to Ireland. The A585 follows Dock Road and ends without ceremony at an apparently arbitrary point. Originally it continued past the port to finish at the end of the Fylde Peninsula, from where there are fantastic views across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District and an offshore windfarm. The port complex itself closed in the 1990's when it could not compete with nearby Heysham port for cross Irish Sea travel.
History
The original route of the A585 has been heavily bypassed. Except immediately south of Fleetwood, the old route now has B-road status.
Opening Dates
Year
Section
Notes
1970
Thornton Bypass (Fylde)
Amounderness Way (section 1) from Skippool Junction to Norcross Roundabout (B5268). Shown on January 1971 OS Quarter inch map. Under construction on July 1969 edition. It may have opened in 1969. It allowed a diversion from the town centre by using the former B5268 northwards from Norcross Roundabout to rejoin the then A585 at Fleetwood Road North / Trunnah Road.
1979
Thornton Cleveleys Relief Road
Amounderness Way (section 2) The 2.9 mile S2 road from Norcross Roundabout to Eros Roundabout was completed in April 1979 per the Policy for Roads: England 1980 Report. Outturn works cost £3.6 million.
1990
Kirkham and Wesham Bypass
The 1.2 mile road from Fleetwood Road to Blackpool Road was opened in 1990 per Wesham Parish Description and a Lancashire Guardian 2022 article looking back to the 1990s. Opened by George Slynn, Chairman of the County Council's Highways and Transport Committee.
1993
Fleetwood: Dock Street Diversion
Amounderness Way (section 3) from Station Road, Fleetwood to Eros Roundabout was opened on 25 January 1993 per the Land Compensation Act notice. The notice gave a distance of 1.5 mile and a start point of Styan Street which indicates some improvement to A587 Lord Street and Station Road. Opened by Tom Ibison, Mayor of Wyre. Tender cost £2.2 million, outturn cost £3.6 million.
Skippool Junction to Windy Harbour Junction (A586). Opened with single lane running in both directions on the dual carriageway on 18 December 2023 (whilst work continued). National Highways reported on 4 March 2024 that it was fully open to traffic. Forecast cost £162 million.
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