A new link road from the M55 to the Docks, cutting through a swathe of fields to the west of the city has been approved.

Preston’s Western Distributor will go from a new junction on the motorway down towards Blackpool Road.

As well as the new link road there’s a two further roads approved to link into major new housing developments in the North West of the city.

Lancashire County Council’s development control committee approved the routes for all the roads.

The Western Distributor is to be a 2.6-mile dual carriageway.

The East-West Link Road will be a 2.1-mile single lane carriageway linking Lightfoot Lane to the Western Distributor.

A third road, Cottam Link Road, will join the Western Distributor just north of the Lancaster Canal and link to Cottam Way.

Read more: Preston’s newest road has opened in Broughton

Cabinet member for highways and transport county councillor Keith Iddon said: “We want to help people get around while reducing congestion in parts of the road network. This planned new road is an important part of improving people’s journeys, which will also bring new people into the area, link to new housing developments and deliver new economic growth.

“We’ve just opened the Broughton Bypass and we recently had approval for the Penwortham Bypass. We’ve now got approval for the Preston Western Distributor, which makes this a very positive time with major changes taking place on the road network across Preston and South Ribble.

“It’s clear that the area is changing and growing, which means that we also need to improve the road network to accommodate increasing numbers of vehicles in the future, while also helping to promote growth and create new jobs.”

Read more: Watch route the Preston Western Distributor is due to take

Funding for the new roads comes from the City Deal, a £434million investment in new housing and roads across Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire.

Leader of Preston City Council councillor Peter Rankin said: “The Preston Western Distributor is another key step in the growth and development of Preston. It offers the opportunity to ease congestion and create greater links to new housing developments, but it also demonstrates City Deal’s continuing commitment to investing in the city’s infrastructure and support for economic growth.”

Work on the Western Distributor is due to begin in 2018.

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