Heysham to M6 Link

Heysham to M6 Link

Location Map ( geo)

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From:

Halton (M6) (SD494649)

To:

Scale Hall (SD456632)

County

Lancashire

Highway Authority

Lancashire

Scheme Type

Bypass

Construction Start Date

2014

Opening Date

October 2016

Cost

£124m

Contractor

Costain

On road(s)

A683

Work started in 2014

The Heysham to M6 Link is a northern bypass of Lancaster City Centre. It is a re-routing of the A683 from its current route along Caton Road and Morecambe Road. Work started on the project in 2014, and it opened in October 2016.

The project costing was £124m for a 4.8km dual carriageway route, along with a major redesign of the Lune Valley Interchange (M6 junction 34); of which £111m was funded by the Department for Transport, and the remainder by Lancashire County Council. There will also be a Park and Ride facility constructed next to the M6.

The road re-entered the roads programme after the 2010 Autumn Statement, as it was deemed essential to ensuring that Heysham was a viable site for potential expansion of nuclear power generation as well as a port for offshore wind and gas installations. It also was a sweetener for the electorate - the constituency of Lancaster and Fleetwood had a wafer-thin majority of 333 and the road was seen in some quarters as a 'reward' for the support.

Oddities and Trivia

A similar road along this general route was originally proposed in 1949 as the Morecambe Link Motorway, and is partially the reason why the original Lune Valley Interchange was so sub-standard, as it was likely to be superseded.

The first section of the Heysham to M6 Link opened in July 1994, originally as a 50 mph wide single carriageway. The speed limit was raised to 60 mph in advance of the completion of the route to the M6.

A large dip in the road alignment has been provided to shield the nearby Torrisholme Crematorium from the road. As a result, there is a 40 mph speed limit along this section.