Morecambe Promenade will NOT close during £2.6m electricity works

Residents and businesses have been reassured that Morecambe Promenade will remain open to traffic as a multi-million pound electricity upgrade continues.

Electricity North West said the £2.6m scheme - which began in January - is expected to take nine months, but Marine Road will remain open throughout.

This follows reports online that a section of Marine Road East would be closed to traffic for six weeks from Monday February 16.

But the road is not closed, and there are no closures planned, said Lancashire County Council and Electricity North West.

The confusion came after a temporary prohibition of traffic order for Marine Road East was issued by the county council.

The order, which is available on the council website and was reported elsewhere, said that traffic would be prohibited on Marine Road East from the junction of Lansdowne Road to the junction of St Margaret's Road - from 7am on Monday February 16 until 5pm on Sunday March 29.

It said: "The temporary prohibition is necessary to ease flow of traffic for duration of work whilst works go ahead on A5105 Marine Road East."

But when a Beyond Radio reporter visited that stretch of Marine Road East on Monday, there was no road closure, signage or traffic management in place.

Below, Marine Road East open as normal between Lansdowne Road and St Margaret's Road on Monday. Photo: Beyond Radio

The Bow Window cafe, on the corner of Princes Crescent and Marine Road East, posted on their Facebook page: "Due to the misleading information that was published, we just want to clarify with all our customers that Marine Road East is currently NOT CLOSED and all businesses including ours are fully open!"

A temporary amendment order has now been published on the Lancashire County Council website. 

Beyond Radio contacted the county council asking for clarification.

"There are no closures planned on Marine Road East and all works will be under two way lights," said a county council spokesperson.

"However, any side streets along this route that are affected by the works will be under temporary closures to allow works to move quickly and with as least disruption as possible."

The Electricity North West capital investment programme will see older, oil-filled cables replaced with more modern ones, with engineers working to replace 4.9km of underground electricity cables.

Works are currently taking place on the Coastal Road, with temporary traffic lights in place.

Engineers are due to move onto Marine Road East from Monday (February 23) with temporary traffic lights in place.

Teams will then move on to Broadway, up to the substation at Winchester Avenue.  

In April, work will commence in the opposite direction from the Network Rail bridge along Marine Drive, proceeding on to Coastal Road, up to the substation at Pasture Lane.  

Below, a map showing where the work is taking place. Credit: Electricity North West

The company said this will "future-proof the network across Bolton-le-Sands and the surrounding area whilst also enhancing reliability, resilience and enabling more low carbon technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicle charging".

"Once complete, more than 5,000 homes and businesses are expected to benefit from the new and improved infrastructure.

"We will initially lay underground ducts to house the cables before returning later in the year to pull the cable into place and connect them to the network.

"Work is expected to last approximately nine months, all work has been agreed with the local authorities and we are hand delivering letters to customers with details of the work and any traffic management.

"Pedestrian/cycle access will still be maintained to the Prom throughout.

"There may be some limitations to parking on the roadside near the prom, but the Prom will not be closed."

An electronic sign near the junction of Broadway has been in place for several weeks announcing major electricity upgrade works starting on January 5 for around 20 weeks.

Below, the sign pictured this week. Photo: Beyond Radio

Electricity North West said the current schedule of work is for the excavation and installation of ducting (which the power cable sits in) and is subject to change depending on factors including weather and ground conditions, as follows:

• Coastal Road – Network Rail Bridge January 5 – February 20
• Marine Road East - February 23 - March 23
• Broadway March 23 - 25
• Broadway – Dallam Avenue to Stuart Avenue March 23 - April 1
• Stuart Avenue  April –April 7 (road closure)
• Winchester Avenue to SP ENW substation April 7 - April 13 (road closure)
• Marine Drive – Network Rail Bridge to level crossing April 14 - May 5
• Coastal Road May 5 - June 16
• Pasture Lane to SP ENW substation June 8 - 10 (road closure)

Below, work taking place opposite Morecambe Golf Club on Monday, February 16. Photo: Beyond Radio

A spokesperson said that joint bay excavation and pulling of the cable into the ducting will then commence from June 11 until July 25.

Vincent Cranny, SP Electricity North West’s head of capital delivery, said: “I’m delighted to say we’ve made excellent progress on the project. 

“The reliance on electricity is only increasing as more people switch to electric vehicles, heat pumps and other low carbon technologies.  

“Our proactive, forward-thinking approach will not only improve reliability in the area but also allow for future development using clean electricity.”  

Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said: “It was great to visit this project to understand the benefits that this work will bring to Bolton-le-Sands and the surrounding area.

“This is a significant multimillion-pound investment which will benefit thousands of residents and businesses.  

“I wanted to visit the site to ensure the impact on my constituents will be minimal while the work is completed. It was clear to me that teams from SP Electricity North West are working incredibly hard, making good progress each day and doing their best to keep disruption to a minimum.”