Southport Roadworks This Week: Kew Roundabout and Lord St

The long job on Southport’s roads this week is on the eastern approach. Sefton Council set Monday 2 November as the start of the main Southport Eastern Access works at Kew Roundabout, with lane narrowing at the roundabout and about nine months of work ahead. Allow extra time on the A570 Scarisbrick New Road.

The short one is in the town centre. For Remembrance Sunday, 8 November, the council is closing Lord Street from Eastbank Street to Hill Street, with Nevill Street, London Street, London Square, Hoghton Street, St George’s Place and Post Office Avenue, from 8am to 1pm. That is longer than in past years, because of new security barriers.

At the other end of the borough, Switch Island shuts at night:

• Each night to Sunday 8 November: the M58 closes through Switch Island in both directions, with the A59 northbound and the M57 northbound link to the A5036 also shut, 8pm to 6am (from 11.45pm on Friday 6 November).
• Tuesday 10 November: the M58 eastbound closes from Switch Island to junction 1, 9pm to 6am, for electrical works.

On the Lancashire side, Black Moss Lane, Scarisbrick is closed until Friday 20 November. Night resurfacing on the A570 in Ormskirk town centre runs from 9 to 13 November, and Snape Green and Wyke Cop Road, Scarisbrick are due to close from 16 November.

On the trains, Merseyrail’s Northern Line works end on Friday 6 November, and Southport trains run to Liverpool Central until then. Normal services return on Saturday 7 November, the same day the leaf fall timetable starts on the Southport line.

Updated 5 November: Merseyrail’s page now starts the leaf fall timetable on 7 November, not 8 November. Ormskirk’s Asmall Lane order has been made, and the new National Highways report, for 4 to 10 November, adds the Tuesday night M58 closure. New Lancashire notices cover Snape Green, Wyke Cop Road, Rosemary Lane and Ruff Lane. Sefton’s Kew page was last updated on 29 October, so we could not confirm from the council how far the works have got. Sefton’s street works map could not be read as a list, and Merseytravel’s travel updates refused our request.

Here is the dated detail, and where to check what is shut today.

Remembrance Sunday, 8 November: Lord Street closed 8am to 1pm

Sefton Council has published the road closures for its eleven Remembrance Sunday services (Sefton Council). From this year, the parades at Bootle, Litherland, Waterloo and Southport get hostile vehicle barriers along each route, in line with Martyn’s Law. The council says that means the closures run for longer.

All of them start at 8am on Sunday 8 November, and the roads are expected to reopen no later than 1pm. In Southport the closed roads are:

• Lord Street, from Eastbank Street up to Hill Street
• Nevill Street
• London Street and London Square
• Hoghton Street
• St George’s Place
• Post Office Avenue

In the south of the borough, closures cover streets around Trinity Road and Stanley Road in Bootle, Sefton Road and Hawthorne Road in Litherland, and Great Georges Road and Church Road in Waterloo, with Crosby Road South closed in front of the monument only. The council’s notice lists every street.

The council says emergency access is kept. It recommends that anyone living or working on the affected roads makes other arrangements for getting a vehicle in or out that morning.

What it means for you. If you drive into the town centre on Sunday morning, avoid Lord Street until 1pm. If you live on one of these streets, move the car before 8am if you need it.

Switch Island and the M57: nights to Sunday, then Tuesday 10 November

The current National Highways closure report covers Wednesday 4 to Tuesday 10 November, and was last updated on 4 November (National Highways closure report). These are the entries on the roads that carry journeys out of Sefton.

Road	What closes	When
M58 both directions	Through Switch Island	Nightly to Sun 8 Nov, 8pm to 6am (Fri 6 Nov from 11.45pm)
A59 northbound	From the M58 to Switch Island	Same nights and times
M57 northbound	Link road to the A5036	Same nights and times
M57 southbound	Junction 3 exit slip, for safety barriers	Thu 5 Nov 9pm and Fri 6 Nov 11.45pm, to 5am
M6 northbound	Junction 26 entry and exit slips, for safety barriers	Sat 7 Nov, 9pm to 5am
M58 eastbound	Switch Island to junction 1	Tue 10 Nov, 9pm to 6am
M58 eastbound	Junction 1 exit slip	Tue 10 Nov, 8pm to 6am
A59 northbound	Link from the M57	Tue 10 Nov, 8pm to 6am
M57 southbound	Junction 1 exit slip road	Continuous, to 5am Sun 31 Jan 2027

National Highways lists the Switch Island closures to Sunday under carriageway reconstruction and renewal on the M58, M57, A5036 and A59 approaches to the junction. The Tuesday 10 November closures are listed as electrical works.

One slip road at the far, M62 end of the M57 is shut round the clock, and it is not new. The M57 southbound junction 1 exit slip, the one down to Tarbock Island, has been shut since 27 May 2025 and is booked to 31 January 2027, for works by Knowsley Council. It reads like bad data. It is not.

Further out, National Highways has given notice that it intends to close both carriageways of the A5036 Princess Way, from the A565 Crosby Road South junction to the Bridge Road roundabout, overnight from 10pm to 5am, between Tuesday 24 and Thursday 26 November, for bridge inspection and maintenance (National Highways notice). That is a notice of intention, so treat the dates as planned.

What it means for you. Up to and including Sunday night, avoid Switch Island after 8pm (after 11.45pm on Friday): the M58 is shut through the junction both ways, and so are the A59 north and the M57 link to the A5036. On Tuesday 10 November, the M58 eastbound is the one to avoid. Daytime journeys are untouched. National Highways says it updates the report twice a day, Monday to Friday, so check it again before a late journey.

Black Moss Lane, Scarisbrick, Ormskirk and the Lancashire lanes

Sefton’s news and scheme pages list no other closures on its own roads apart from the Kew Roundabout works and the Remembrance closures. Its street works map could not be read as a list for this update, so check it for smaller digs. Lancashire County Council’s orders cover the lanes on the borough’s eastern edge, in West Lancashire borough, and the A570 at Ormskirk.

Black Moss Lane, Scarisbrick: until Friday 20 November. The road is closed for 205 metres south of its junction with the B5243, from 8am on Monday 2 November until 6pm on Friday 20 November, for gas mains replacement. Emergency and resident access is kept wherever possible. The diversion runs via the B5243 Jacksmere Lane and the A570 Southport Road. The county made the order in a notice published on 29 October (Lancashire County Council order).

A570, Ormskirk town centre: Monday 9 to Friday 13 November, nights. The county is closing A570 Church Street from number 46 to Derby Street West, A570 Derby Street West to number 32, and the A570 Southport Road from Church Street to Green Lane, from 6pm to 6am each night, for carriageway resurfacing. It warns the work is weather dependent. Westbound traffic is sent via the A570 Southport Road, the A59 County Road and the B5197 Aughton Street; eastbound via the A59 County Road and the B5319 Burscough Road. The county made the order in a notice published on 29 October; it applies only when signs are up on site (Lancashire County Council order).

Asmall Lane, Ormskirk: Wednesday 11 November, overnight. The county is closing the lane outside number 102 from 7pm on Wednesday 11 November to 4am on Thursday 12 November, for maintenance of a flow monitor. The signed diversion is long: Cottage Lane, the A59 County Road, the A570 Southport Road, the A5147 Gorsuch Lane and Halsall Road, North Moor Lane and back to Asmall Lane. The county published the made order on 3 November (Lancashire County Council order).

Ruff Lane, Ormskirk: Monday 9 to Friday 13 November. The lane closes from Weldon Drive to outside number 22, from 8am on Monday 9 November to 4pm on Friday 13 November, to disconnect and replace an old lead supply. The county has made the order (Lancashire County Council order).

Snape Green and Wyke Cop Road, Scarisbrick: from Monday 16 November. The county intends to close Snape Green from Hares Lane to Wyke Cop Road, Wyke Cop Road from Rimmer Green to Snape Green, and 80 metres of Cat Tail Lane from Snape Green, from 8am on Monday 16 November to 6pm on Monday 30 November, for replacement gas works. The diversion runs via Wyke Cop Road, Pool Hey Lane and the A570 Southport Road. This is a notice of intention, published on 5 November (Lancashire County Council notice).

Rosemary Lane, Downholland: Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 November. The county intends to close the lane from outside number 3 to outside number 5, from 8am on Monday 16 November to 6pm on Tuesday 17 November, to replace a manhole frame and lid. The diversion runs via the A5147 Delf Lane, the B5195 Broad Lane and Bye Lane. This is a notice of intention, published on 4 November (Lancashire County Council notice).

All are temporary orders under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and each lapses early if the work finishes sooner.

What it means for you. Black Moss Lane and Snape Green are the long ones, and both send traffic onto the A570, the same road the Kew Roundabout works sit on. If you drive the A570 to Ormskirk in the evening, allow for the town centre resurfacing in the week of 9 November.

Bus diversions

Arriva’s own stop pages list two diversions from roadworks around the patch (Arriva service updates):

• Raven Meols Lane, Formby, 2 to 6 November: the 44 uses Kings Road instead of Kirklake Road and Bushbys Lane, and the F3 cuts back via Ward Avenue and Kings Road.
• Bescar Brow Road, from 30 October: Arriva says the road is closed and the 375 to Wigan follows the 385 route. It gives no end date, and we found no county notice to match it.

One we could not confirm: a notice relayed on the Bus Times website says Sussex Road is closed between Norwood Road and Poplar Street for about five days from 2 November, with the 46 and 46B diverted. Merseytravel’s own page refused our request, and Arriva’s update page for that stop shows no disruption, so check before you rely on it.

Southport Eastern Access: the works at Kew Roundabout

Sefton Council confirmed on Monday 17 August that Phase 2 of the Southport Eastern Access scheme started that day (Sefton Council). Its scheme page sets out what the work involves (Sefton Council):

• early works in Meols Park, alongside Scarisbrick New Road
• clearing bushes and vegetation on Foul Lane and at Kew Roundabout
• main construction from Monday 2 November, expected to take about nine months
• the full work area covers Meols Park, Foul Lane, Kew Roundabout, Town Lane Kew and New Foul Lane

The page first said main construction would start in September, then October. On 29 October the council gave a firm date: the main works start on Monday 2 November. Its reminder that day said contractor Balfour Beatty starts with vegetation clearance on the roundabout, then installs the new signalised crossings, with traffic management including lane narrowing (Sefton Council). The council says it will monitor the traffic management throughout and advises motorists to expect longer journey times.

The Meols Park work is a layer of stone laid along the park boundary as the foundation for a widened footpath and a segregated cycle path. The council is deliberately leaving that stone to settle for a few months before the tarmac goes on near the end of the scheme, because of poor ground conditions. Expect that stretch to look unfinished for most of the job. That is the plan, not a delay.

What is actually changing at Kew

Sefton has published the design, and it is a rebuild rather than resurfacing (Sefton Council highway proposals):

• Kew Roundabout gets traffic lights and signalised crossings on every arm, plus a segregated footpath and cycle path. It stops being a give-way roundabout.
• Scarisbrick New Road, along the park side, gets a widened footway and a new cycle path up to Kew Roundabout, and the crossings are upgraded to a pelican crossing.
• Foul Lane is opened up to through traffic. The road is currently blocked. The block comes out, the carriageway is widened, and you will be able to turn in from Crowland Street and drive straight through.
• Past the mini roundabout towards B&Q, a segregated queuing lane is added.

The council says traffic will be kept moving around the roundabout using cones and lane closures rather than full closures, and that access for residents and businesses will be maintained throughout. It also warns plainly that journey times will be longer while the work is on.

What it means for you. If you come into Southport from Ormskirk, Scarisbrick or the retail parks, this is your route. The council’s nine-month estimate from November runs to about next August, so add time for months, not weeks. If the queues build and you are heading for the town centre, the coast road through Birkdale is the alternative, though it is slower in normal conditions.

What it costs and who is paying

The scheme is budgeted at £19.97 million, funded through the Liverpool City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. The funding carries a condition: all of it must be committed by March 2027 (Sefton Council). That deadline is the reason the timetable is what it is.

Phase 1 of the same scheme, at the Sussex Road and Bispham Road junctions, is already complete.

The other borough schemes, and where each one stands

Sefton lists five major highway projects. Two are done, two are part done and one has yet to start (Sefton Council).

• Les Transformations de Southport phase 1 finished at the end of 2025. It pedestrianised Market Street, made King Street one way, and brought wider footways, new paving, new crossings, tree planting and rain gardens on Eastbank Street. It was allocated £6.2 million from the Sustainable Transport Settlement and the Levelling Up Fund Town Deal (latest updates, funding).
• A59 Corridor, Maghull. Construction started in March 2025 and most of it, including the new CYCLOPS junction at Kenyons Lane, was finished in early 2026. The council’s page, updated on 4 November, says outstanding electrical connections mean works around Robbins Roundabout are still not complete. It expects them done “shortly”, with no date. The final footway work and the new signal crossings switch on after that. The speed limit on the corridor has come down from 60mph to 40mph (Sefton Council).
• Maritime Corridor, Netherton. Phase 1, on Dunnings Bridge Road and Netherton Way, was completed in February 2026. On 14 September the council said Phase 2 starts the following week, on Bridle Road, with junction improvements at Bridle Way, Farriers Way and Vesty Road and a new walking and cycling route from Vesty Road to Deltic Way. It is expected to take around 12 months, covering 1.2km of road and 2.4km of footpath. During the works Bridle Road becomes one way from Netherton Way to Park Lane, so traffic cannot run from Park Lane towards Netherton Way, and the 58 bus is affected in the Netherton to Liverpool direction. The council says an independent study found the alternative, temporary traffic lights, would have stretched the job to an estimated two years (Sefton Council). Bridle Road is at Netherton, at the far south of the borough and nearer Liverpool than Southport. Nothing in this scheme touches a route into town.
• Norwood Mitigation Improvements is listed but its pages carry no dates.

Les Transformations phase 2: what is proposed for the Promenade

Phase 2 covers the seafront, and the council has now published the design in detail even though the latest-updates page is still marked as under development, so there is no start date to plan around yet. The proposals are tied to getting people to the new Marine Lake Events Centre on the site of the old Southport Theatre. The key changes proposed (Sefton Council):

• Nevill Street becomes one way for cars, northbound past West Street.
• The Promenade gets a formalised central reservation carrying a cycle path, described as a green spine, which stops cars cutting through Bath Street.
• Marine Parade becomes left turn only, both onto and off the Promenade.
• The top of Bold Street becomes southbound only from the Promenade.
• Promenade parking is reorganised onto the south side, giving 16 spaces, plus new taxi, disabled, drop-off and coach bays.
• Eight new pedestrian crossings, some signalised and some not.
• The carriageway on the Promenade is narrowed to widen the footways.

The council’s own FAQ is blunt about the consequence: with the central reservation in, you will no longer be able to turn right off the northbound Promenade into Victoria Street, Bold Street or Bath Street. It says drivers will be routed round the town centre instead, using Seabank Street, Leicester Street, Park Street and Marine Drive to the north, or the Esplanade, Duke Street and Kingsway to the south. Its traffic modelling concludes there will be no significant impact on congestion, even at peak summer.

On 30 September the council answered a ward councillor’s description of the scheme as a £14 million cycle lane. Cllr Phil Hart, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Highways, called that claim misleading. He said the scheme brings extra crossings and better safety and accessibility outside the new events centre. He also said the existing cycle route nearby, blocked while the centre is built, reopens once it is complete (Sefton Council). The statement does not give the scheme’s cost or a start date.

Trains: Northern Line works until Friday 6 November

If your fallback for all of this is the train, check the day you travel. Merseyrail has closed part of the Northern Line for four weeks from Sunday 11 October to Friday 6 November 2026 for a £3.5 million project to strengthen and waterproof four tunnels on the approach into Liverpool from the south (Merseyrail).

The good news for this end of the line is that Southport keeps its trains:

• Until Friday 6 November: trains run between Southport and Liverpool Central. Replacement buses cover Hunts Cross to Moorfields.
• Normal services resume on Saturday 7 November.

Merseyrail also warns that some train times are amended while the work is on, so check its journey planner before you travel.

Its planned engineering page lists no Southport line work after that. The next entry is Sunday 15 November on the Ormskirk and Headbolt Lane lines, with trains between Ormskirk and Aintree and buses between Moorfields and Headbolt Lane (Merseyrail).

The work is meant to stop water reaching the 750V third rail, which the operator says is a cause of power failures, emergency speed restrictions and unplanned closures across the network. New track feeder switches are going in at the same time so engineers can isolate smaller sections of railway remotely.

The Southport timetable shifts on 7 November

The day after the tunnel work ends, the Southport line timetable changes for the leaf fall season (Merseyrail). From Saturday 7 November:

• trains from stations between Southport and Sandhills depart up to three minutes earlier than currently scheduled
• arrival times into Liverpool city centre stay the same
• trains out of Liverpool leave at their usual times but may arrive up to three minutes later at stations between Sandhills and Southport

Merseyrail says the adjustment is because fallen leaves leave a slippery layer on the rail that affects acceleration and braking, so trains may run at slightly reduced speeds. The page gives no end date for the change.

Day to day, the Merseyrail line into Southport is unaffected by any of the roadworks on this page.

The two roads that carry Southport

• The A565 is the coast road. It runs down Lord Street and out through Birkdale as Waterloo Road and Lulworth Road, then on through Ainsdale, Formby and Crosby towards Liverpool. Almost every trip along the Sefton coast uses part of it.
• The A570 comes in from the east as Scarisbrick New Road, past Kew Roundabout and the retail parks. It is the main inland approach, and the road the Eastern Access works sit on.

Sefton publishes a rolling highway maintenance programme listing which carriageways are due resurfacing. Several A565 stretches through Birkdale, Ainsdale and Formby appear in the 2025 to 2027 list, including A565 Waterloo Road and A565 Lulworth Road in Birkdale (Sefton Council maintenance programme). Individual resurfacing jobs are short, usually a few nights or a week, and are notified locally rather than announced across the borough in advance.

How to check what is closed today

Roadworks pages go stale within days. These are fed live by the people doing the digging:

• Sefton’s street works map shows works booked on the borough’s own roads, including utility company digs.
• one.network for Sefton shows the same data with diversions and planned closures, and covers neighbouring authorities so you can see the West Lancashire side of a journey too.
• National Highways closure report is the source for the M57, M58, M6 and A59 entries above, updated twice a day, Monday to Friday.

While you are here: our pages on Southport train times, house prices across the borough and the district’s planning decisions cover the other things people usually want to look up.

Frequently asked questions

Is Lord Street closed on Remembrance Sunday?

Yes. Sefton Council is closing Lord Street from Eastbank Street to Hill Street, with Nevill Street, London Street, London Square, Hoghton Street, St George’s Place and Post Office Avenue, from 8am on Sunday 8 November. The roads are expected to reopen by 1pm at the latest. Emergency access is kept.

When do the Kew Roundabout works start and finish?

Sefton Council set Monday 2 November 2026 as the start of the main phase of the Southport Eastern Access works, and expects it to take about nine months. The first jobs are vegetation clearance and the new signalised crossings on Kew Roundabout, with lane narrowing. The council says traffic will be kept moving, with access for residents and businesses maintained.

Is Switch Island closed this week?

Only at night. Each night to Sunday 8 November, the M58 closes through Switch Island in both directions from 8pm to 6am, along with the A59 northbound and the M57 northbound link to the A5036. On Friday 6 November the closure starts at 11.45pm. Daytime journeys are not affected.

When is Black Moss Lane in Scarisbrick closed?

Until 6pm on Friday 20 November (it closed at 8am on Monday 2 November), for 205 metres south of the B5243, for gas mains replacement. The diversion uses the B5243 Jacksmere Lane and the A570 Southport Road. Lancashire County Council made the order on 29 October.

Which roads near Southport are closed in the next fortnight?

• Kew Roundabout, Southport: lane narrowing from Monday 2 November, for about nine months.
• Black Moss Lane, Scarisbrick: to 6pm on Friday 20 November.
• Switch Island, M58 both ways, A59 north, M57 link to the A5036: 8pm to 6am nightly, up to Sunday 8 November.
• Lord Street and six nearby streets, Southport: 8am to 1pm, Sunday 8 November.
• A570, Ormskirk town centre: 6pm to 6am nightly, Monday 9 to Friday 13 November.
• Ruff Lane, Ormskirk: 8am on Monday 9 to 4pm on Friday 13 November.
• M58 eastbound, Switch Island to junction 1: 9pm to 6am, Tuesday 10 November.
• Asmall Lane, Ormskirk: 7pm on Wednesday 11 to 4am on Thursday 12 November.
• Snape Green and Wyke Cop Road, Scarisbrick: from 8am on Monday 16 to 6pm on Monday 30 November (notice of intention).
• Rosemary Lane, Downholland: 8am on Monday 16 to 6pm on Tuesday 17 November (notice of intention).

How long is the M57 junction 1 exit slip closed?

The southbound junction 1 exit slip down to Tarbock Island has been shut since May 2025 and is booked to 31 January 2027, for works by Knowsley Council.