The opening phase of a major programme of road improvements to support Blackpool's regeneration, cut congestion and enhance access to the town centre begins this week.

Delivered under the Town Centre Access Scheme (TCAS), the £17m initiative is part‑funded by £15.3m from the UK Government and will see Blackpool Council upgrade key routes in and around the centre to improve traffic flow for residents and businesses. It sits alongside the council’s increased spend on highways maintenance, with more than a dozen residential streets being resurfaced this spring.

Across the full programme, road layouts will be redesigned, existing traffic signal junctions will be coordinated to work more efficiently together, and additional crossing points will be introduced to create safer, easier journeys for pedestrians and cyclists.

Cllr Paula Burdess, Blackpool Council's Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Street Scene and Neighbourhoods, said: "This is an important investment our town's future. These improvements support our long term ambition to create a town centre that’s easier to access and more inviting for residents, businesses and visitors.

"The town has already seen significant regeneration, with more to come, and it's essential that our highways network is upgraded to support the towns continued development.

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"While there will inevitably be some disruption, this investment will deliver real benefits for residents, local businesses and future growth in the town."

Work has begun at the Grosvenor Street/Caunce Street junction and is scheduled to run for around 10 weeks, subject to weather. The scheme will upgrade traffic signals and widen the carriageway to safely reinstate two‑way traffic on Grosvenor Street. To keep vehicles moving, no temporary traffic lights will be used, but lane reductions will be in place, and motorists are advised to allow extra time.

The programme will then move to the Deansgate/Cookson Street junction to remodel the layout, add formal pedestrian crossings and enhance cycling facilities.

TCAS will be delivered in phases, with completion expected by autumn 2028. Planned measures include enabling two‑way traffic on Grosvenor Street and Deansgate; introducing a right turn from Cookson Street onto Deansgate; upgrading signalised junctions along Grosvenor Street and Cookson Street; installing new toucan crossings on Cookson Street, Deansgate and Grosvenor Street; creating extra drop‑off/pick‑up bays on Cookson Street; closing George Street to traffic between Grosvenor Street and Cookson Street to form new public realm for the Multiversity campus; and adding a cycle lane on King Street to complete a north–south route through the centre.

The highways work forms part of the wider transformation of the Talbot Gateway area around Blackpool North train station, which is set to bring more than 8,000 workers and students into the town centre and drive long‑term economic growth.

Recent upgrades in the area include a 4‑star, 144‑bedroom Holiday Inn hotel and restaurant, a tram‑train interchange connecting to the Promenade, a town centre office for the Department of Works and Pensions, and new space for the NHS Business Services Authority, whose staff have recently moved into the first floor of Number One, Bickerstaffe Square.

Further developments are progressing, with a new Ministry of Defence office due to open next year, construction of the Multiversity college campus scheduled to start later this year, and proposals for another multi‑storey car park on King Street expected to be submitted in the coming months.