Calls for new bridge over River Ribble

We should continue to make the case for a new road bridge over the River Ribble near Preston, says the Ribble Valley MP.

That was the message from Maya Ellis after she made a direct call on the government to assess the economic benefits such a crossing could deliver.

The long-vaunted blueprint for creating a second route across the river – between Lea and Penwortham – has been bolstered in recent years by the completion of two other road-building schemes that underpin the vision for the bridge project.

The opening of the Penwortham bypass (John Horrocks Way) in 2019 and the Preston Western Distributor Road (Edith Rigby Way) four years later boosted the argument for the cross-river connection, which is also backed by the Preston and South Ribble MPs, Sir Mark Hendrick and Paul Foster.

The bridge is intended to reduce congestion by completing a ring road running from the A582/M65 at Cuerden to the M55 at Bartle – via the bypass and the distributor road – which would funnel traffic away from Preston city centre and the surrounding area.

One of the biggest benefits would be its capacity to act as an alternative route to the M6 through Central Lancashire when the motorway is gridlocked or closed – scenarios that currently cause chaos on local roads.

During a debate she secured on the subject of private sector investment in Lancashire, Maya Ellis – whose Ribble Valley constituency includes parts of the Preston and South Ribble council areas – asked the government to “scope the return on investment of a second bridge across the River Ribble, west of Preston”.

She added that the structure would “create a ring road around Preston and unlock the increasing gridlock in our rapidly growing county”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after the debate, Ms. Ellis said she recognised the scale of the ambition inherent in the proposed scheme and the odds of a bridge being delivered in the near future.

However, she stressed that it was vital to keep pressing the government to pursue it, in case funding became available sooner than might seem likely.

“The reality is it’s a billions-of-pounds project – so it’s not something that I expect them to turn around in a spending review and say: ‘Yes, we’ll go for it.’

“But I think it’s important we do take it seriously and…keep talking about it as [something that] would be a real game changer here – because you just never know.

“The economy is doing pretty well right now – and if we hadn’t had the Iran war, there could have been a bit more money around. [So] I want to make sure that we are there on the list [of projects] for consideration.

“It might take 50 years, but…some of these things do take that long – and I’d rather lobby now, even if we don’t get it for another 50 years, than just not try,” explained Ms. Ellis, who has been pressing for ways of tackling congestion when the M6 is snarled up.

Making an intervention in the debate, Paul Foster said a new Ribble bridge offered a “huge opportunity” – but claimed that the Treasury’s ‘Green Book’, which guides sending decisions by weighing up costs and benefits, did “not seem to want to recognise or support that”.

Business and trade minister Chris McDonald – speaking for the government – did not directly respond to the bridge assessment request.

Meanwhile, Sir Mark Hendrick told the LDRS that while he was a longstanding supporter of a new Ribble crossing, he was a realist about the likely timeframe for securing the funding for it – especially given that it took four years to finance the £8m replacement for the Old Tram Bridge, the pedestrian link connecting Avenham Park to Penwortham.

“So I don’t expect anytime soon to be seeing a new traffic bridge,” the veteran Preston MP said.

He added that he believes another highway upgrade is equally important for easing holdups in the Preston area – the expansion of junction 31A of the M6.

Currently, the turn-off – for Preston East and Longridge – is a restricted junction, with only two arms on and off the motorway instead of the usual four.  That means northbound traffic can leave at 31A, but not enter, while southbound traffic can enter, but not leave.

“It affects the flow of the traffic around Preston – and a lot of the jams that [occur] are for that reason,” Sir Mark said.

The prospect of a new Ribble crossing was floated in the 20-year Lancashire Local Transport Plan drawn up by the Lancashire Combined County Authority devolution body last year. However, the project was not mentioned in the first implementation plan for that strategy, which covers the period through until 2030 and is currently the subject of a public consultation.

It was originally thought any new Preston ring road, incorporating a second Ribble bridge, would be dual carriageway from start to end.  However, longstanding plans to dual the entirety of the A582 in South Ribble were revised in 2024 and the route will now see some of its key junctions redesigned instead.