A ground-breaking ceremony has been held to mark the beginning of construction on a new £207 million road project in Preston.

The Preston Western Distributor scheme will see a new route built on the west side of the city from the M55 motorway to a new junction with Blackpool Road at Lea. It will add additional capacity and help to reduce congestion and queuing on parts of the road network.

County Councillor Geoff Driver was joined by Jim Carter, Lancashire Enterprise Partnership board member and Chair of the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal; Matthew Brown, leader of Preston City Council; Harry Hancock, Mayor of South Ribble; and Nicola Elsworth from Homes England to mark the project milestone.

Cllr Geoff Driver CBE, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: "This ambitious £207m scheme will transform the way people in the area live, travel and work.

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"It will particularly benefit people who live or work around the city, as well as further afield, by helping them to get between the motorway network and the city more easily.

"We're proud to say that this is yet another major road project which the county council has made happen in recent years, on behalf of the City Deal partnership. James Towers Way opened in 2017 and John Horrocks Way in Penwortham is nearly complete.

"We know that there will be some disruption while these roads are being built, so we ask people to bear with us during the construction. It will be worth it when they open."

Contractor Costain is on board to deliver the scheme, which will also form the biggest part of the Lancashire City Deal.

City Deal is an agreement between the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council and Lancashire County Council, along with central government and Homes England. It will help to deliver new infrastructure, new homes and more jobs over the next ten years. It will help to create more than 20,000 new private sector jobs and see over 17,000 new homes built across the area, along with new school places, open green spaces and new health provision to cater for the growing population.

The Preston Western Distributor is expected to open in 2023.

(CM/MH)