A582 revamp survives defence spending boost

A long-awaited upgrade of one of the main routes linking South Ribble and Preston will not be scrapped to help pay for increased defence spending – but it will be another year yet before work on the scheme begins.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) can reveal that the planned £77m revamp of the A582 between Lostock Hall and Penwortham will still go ahead after the government announced it intends to pull the plug on a raft of infrastructure projects as part of a shift in spending priorities.

The overhaul of the busy route revolves around the redesign of key junctions, designed to reduce congestion.

It was revealed on Monday that the Department for Transport (DfT) faces £700m of cuts to its roads budget which will go towards a £15bn boost in resources for defence.

The government did not publish a full list of the highway schemes that could be sacrificed as a result – and it also warned that “as-yet-uncommitted roads funding” may be reduced.

The A582 project, which spans Farington Road, Flensburg Way and Penwortham Way, provisionally secured £57.9m of DfT cash last July – but final confirmation will come only once a full business case for the work is approved.

However, the LDRS understands that the defence investment plan outlined by Sir Keir Starmer will not have any bearing on the government’s financial support for the reconfiguration of the tailback-prone route.

But the promised benefits of the upgrade are unlikely to be felt until close to the end of the decade after the LDRS also established that on-site work will not begin until next summer.

That will be two years after an outline business case persuaded the government to make its provisional cash commitment and 18 months after planning permission for one of the main elements of the scheme – the removal of the twin roundabouts at the A582’s junctions with Croston Road and Centurion Way – was given the green light.

Lancashire County Council – which is stumping up the rest of the funding for the project – says it plans to submit the full business case for approval next spring. The reason for the time gap is unknown and the authority has not made public any estimated completion date for the works. However, the scale of the revamp means it is likely to take a substantial amount of time to realise in full.

As part of the scheme, the two roundabouts at Croston Road and Centurion Way will be replaced with a trio of signal-operated junctions, which will form a ‘green wave’ that allows vehicles on the main route to pass through in one movement. New technology will also detect HGVs approaching the junctions, enabling the traffic lights to be sequenced so as to reduce the need for lorries to decelerate – further improving the flow of traffic.

Meanwhile, the roundabout at the junction of Lostock Lane, Farington Road, Stanifield Lane and Watkin Lane – which is already controlled by traffic lights – will be ripped up and replaced with a crossroads layout, but still led by signals.

A series of traffic-calming measures will also be introduced on Leyland Road and Watkin Lane, designed to discourage rat-running and promote cycling and walking along the B5254 corridor. The roundabout at the northern end of Leyland Road will also be reconfigured.

In response to a request for an update on the project, a spokesperson for Lancashire County Council told the LDRS: “We are continuing to develop plans to improve journeys along the A582 corridor between Preston and the M65, helping to reduce congestion, improve journey times and support future growth across South Ribble and Preston. The proposals will also provide improved facilities for buses, walking and cycling.

“The Department for Transport approved the scheme’s outline business case in July 2025 and work is now under way to prepare a full business case for government consideration. Following extensive public engagement, a number of changes have been made to the proposals in response to feedback from residents and stakeholders.

“Subject to the necessary council approvals, we expect to submit the full business case in spring 2027, with construction anticipated to begin in summer 2027. We will continue to keep residents, businesses and stakeholders updated as the project progresses.”

The scheme is a much scaled-down version of a previous vision to turn the entire stretch of the A582 between Lostock Hall and Penwortham into a dual carriageway. That decade-old blueprint was abandoned by Lancashire County Council in 2024 after years of funding challenges and increasing costs  – and after some junctions had already been widened in preparation for it.