A589

The A589 connects Lancaster to Heysham and its port via Morecambe but has now been bypassed by the A683.

The road begins at a roundabout on the A683 near Heysham Nuclear Power Station and close to the ferry terminal on Rothesay Road (some maps claim it is the A589 rather than A683 that runs to the ferry terminal but signage disagrees). It travels north through suburbs, as Middleton Road then Heysham Road, before entering the heart of the once bustling resort town of Morecambe which is now a shadow of its former self with a multitude of problems.

Morecambe Promenade

The road now becomes Marine Road West and passes the demolished Frontierland Theme Park, which was once Morecambe's very poor equivalent of Blackpool's Pleasure Beach before the aforementioned Pleasure Beach bought it and shut it down. Passing a roundabout and the recently reopened Midland Hotel the original A589 turned right along what is now the B5321 but now we bypass the town centre. The street name changes to Marine Road Central as we enter the main part of Morecambe or, as it was once known, Poulton-Le-Sands; Morecambe being only the name of the bay. Past the statue of the town's most famous son the comic Eric Morecambe and the clock tower, the street name changes again to Marine Road East. At the junction with Broadway the A589 TOTSOs with the A5105 which carries on the Marine Road to join up with the A6 at Bolton-Le-Sands. The A589 now heads inland along Broadway, crossing the B5321 (the original road between Morecambe and Lancaster) at the Shrimp Roundabout, to Morecambe Road. The road then crosses the A683 Heysham Bypass / Bay Gateway at a high capacity light-controlled crossroads, completed in 2016.

The A589 continues Morecambe Road, passing under the West Coast Main Line at Carlisle Bridge, into central Lancaster where it used to end at the A6 junction just north of Skerton Bridge. It now joins the one-way system to cross the River Lune over Skerton Bridge. Traffic in the opposite direction uses Greyhound Bridge, which was converted from a redundant railway bridge in 1972. (Between 1994 and 2016, this section of the A589 was part of the A683.)

Following the completion of the A683 Heysham Bypass / Bay Gateway to an upgraded M6 J34 in 2016, the A589 was extended NE along the old A683 Caton Road to J34. This road passes under the Lancaster Canal just south of the Lune Aqueduct. (Some maps still show this as the A683.)

Original Author(s): Carl Ryding

History

Lancaster to Morecambe

The route in 1922 also showing the completed first stage of the new road.

A new direct route between the towns was planned as an Unemployment Relief Scheme in the early 1920s. It was completed in two stages.

The plaque to commemorate the stage 1 opening in 1922

Stage 1 was the 0.7 mile from Scale Hall Lane to B5321 Shrimp Island (formerly White Lund Corner) and was opened on 12 October 1922 by the Mayors of Lancaster and Morecambe. Width was 60 feet in the Lancaster area and 100 feet in the Morecambe area. Carriageway width was 35 feet. Telephone and water utilities were put beneath the footpaths. Cost was £35,000.

A commemorative milestone half way along the road recorded that it had been constructed by men of the towns who had fought in the Great War.

The road is shown as unclassified on the 1922-23 Ministry of Transport map and renumbered as A589 after stage 2 was completed.

Stage 2 was Broadway in Morecambe. The 0.85 mile from Shrimp Island (B5321) to Marine Road East (Victoria Esplanade) was opened on 3 May 1923 by Sir Henry P. Maybury, Director of the Roads Department of the Ministry of Transport. Cost of both stages was £123,000. An elaborate commemorative stone seat was erected at the Marine Road East end. It recorded that 200 men had found employment on the undertaking.

The existing road from Lancaster to the Scale Hall Lane turn was also widened at the same time.

Heysham: Middleton Road Bypass

Middleton Way was to be opened on 17 April 1962 by E. Kershaw, Mayor (public notice in the Morecombe Visitor of 11 April 1962).