Representatives of Highways England attended the Parish Council Meeting held on 27 October 2017 to update the Parish Council as to the current position.
Following consultation, the preferred option is the southern by-pass, which also has the approval of Fylde Borough Council, Wyre Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. The scheme is still in its draft phase and consideration is being given to a junction at Grange Road, Lodge Lane Bridge or underpass and a Shard Lane link road. A lot of work still has to be done before the next stage and a lot more detail will be available at the end of that stage. The final layout has yet to be confirmed.
After consultation 93% of those who responded agreed that something needed to be done with the A585, and this was the preferred layout for the majority of people. Highways England is now working on minimising the impact on those properties affected wherever possible and it will tweak the draft proposal wherever necessary. They are hoping that stage 3 will be available for consultation in the first half of 2018 and they are still on schedule to commence on site in March 2020.
Singleton Parish Council remains unconvinced of the merits of the by-pass and does not feel it will answer the current problems and will not improve the journey time between Fleetwood and the M55. The rate of travelling will only be as good as the slowest points on the road and there are still going to be two pinch points – Skippool Junction and Thistleton – where no improvements are planned. The Parish Council has asked that impact measures be taken for the people on the south side of Garstang Road and Lodge Lane residents and that the land bridge area be returned to pasture land as well as providing effective screening of the by-pass.