New aerial photographs (featured in this article) released by Lancashire County Council (LCC) show the current stage of construction of the long-awaited M55 link road which will eventually connect the existing roundabout at Whitehills Road to the North with Heyhouses Lane near Cypress Point to the South. When finally opened for traffic, it is hoped that the new link road will boost the local economy by providing better access between the M55 and Lytham St Anne’s.

Alongside the aerial photographs, LCC have shared the news that prolonged wet weather during 2023 have caused delays to carrying out earthworks and the construction of drainage. This had a knock-on impact to the construction of the upper layers of the road. It had been hoped that reasonable conditions over winter would allow for an accelerated construction schedule, and the road to open in April.

However, LCC say that whilst progress has been made, very wet and cold weather over recent months means the county council’s highways team has not been able to catch-up time time lost during the earlier phase, with the road now scheduled to open in June.

County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, LCC Cabinet Member For Highways & Transport, explained: ‘The link road will make a real difference to travel in this area and construction is progressing well, however the weather over the winter has been worse than we’d hoped for and means we haven’t been able to make up the time lost to the flooding last summer.

As I hope people will be able to see from the new aerial photos, construction has been going well nonetheless, with kerbing now in place throughout the scheme along with preparations for the final surface to be laid.

The warmer weather now starting to arrive gives us more certainty over timescales for completion of this final phase, and I know our team will be working really hard to get the road finished and open as soon as they possibly can.’

Photographs showing scenes from the site of the long awaited link road were featured in Lytham St. Anne’s News in February: https://www.lythamstannes.news/news/folio-of-photographs-showing-progress-or-lack-of-progress-of-link-road/