Southport Roadworks This Week: Switch Island Shut Wednesday

Southport’s own roads have no advertised closures this week. Every closure that matters is at the far end of the journey out, and the biggest of them lands on Saturday and Sunday night.

National Highways is closing the M58 in both directions at Switch Island from 8pm on Saturday 19 and again from 8pm on Sunday 20 September, each time until 6am. The A59 northbound from the M58 to Switch Island and the M57 northbound link onto the A5036 shut over the same hours on both nights.

Before that, tonight. The A5036 closes in both directions at Switch Island from 8pm on Friday 18 September to 6am on Saturday. The same pair of closures comes back on Wednesday 23 September.

Switch Island sits at Netherton, at the southern tip of the borough, and it is where the M57, M58, A59 and A5036 meet. It is the junction almost every drive from Southport towards Liverpool, Knowsley or the M6 passes through.

East of town, Lancashire County Council has now made the orders for the two level crossing closures at Scarisbrick on the night of Saturday 26 September and for Altcar Lane at Great Altcar from 21 to 23 September. Last week those were only intentions.

One deadline is close. Objections to the permanent stopping up of Sandbrook Way at Ainsdale close at midnight on Wednesday 24 September.

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

Switch Island: three nights of closures, and two slips shut for months

The current National Highways closure report runs from Thursday 17 to Wednesday 23 September (National Highways closure report). These are the entries on the roads that carry journeys out of Sefton.

Road	What closes	When
A5036	Eastbound through Switch Island, and westbound from the M58	Fri 18 Sep, 8pm to 6am
M58	Both directions at Switch Island	Sat 19 Sep, 8pm to 6am
A59 northbound	M58 to Switch Island	Sat 19 Sep, 8pm to 6am
M57 northbound	Link road onto the A5036	Sat 19 Sep, 8pm to 6am
M58	Both directions at Switch Island	Sun 20 Sep, 8pm to 6am
A59 northbound	M58 to Switch Island	Sun 20 Sep, 8pm to 6am
M57 northbound	Link road onto the A5036	Sun 20 Sep, 8pm to 6am
M57 northbound	Junction 5 entry slip road	Tue 22 Sep, 8pm to 6am
A5036	Eastbound and westbound at Switch Island	Wed 23 Sep, 8pm to 6am
M57 northbound	Junction 1 entry slip road	Continuous, to 6am Wed 28 Oct
M57 southbound	Junction 1 exit slip road	Continuous, to 5am Sun 31 Jan 2027

The report gives the reason for the Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday closures as carriageway reconstruction and renewal for National Highways, under two schemes: one covering the A59 in both directions from Switch Island towards the A59, M58 and M57, and one covering the M58 in both directions into the junction. The Tuesday slip closure at junction 5 is electrical work on the stretch of the M57 between junctions 3 and 6.

Two slip roads at Switch Island are shut round the clock, and neither is new:

• The M57 northbound junction 1 entry slip closed at 8pm on Wednesday 2 September and is booked to stay shut until 6am on Wednesday 28 October. National Highways gives the reason as off network works.
• The M57 southbound junction 1 exit slip, the one down to Tarbuck 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.

What it means for you. The weekend is the part to plan around. A night closure of the M58 in both directions at Switch Island takes out the direct route between Sefton and Skelmersdale, Wigan and the M6, and it happens on both Saturday and Sunday. All of these start at 8pm, an hour earlier than the usual 9pm motorway closure, so an evening out in Liverpool or a late run to the M6 is inside the window rather than safely before it. National Highways publishes a new report each Thursday, so anything past Wednesday 23 September is not yet listed.

Scarisbrick, Halsall and the Lancashire lanes

Sefton’s own roads carry no advertised closures at the moment. The lanes Southport drivers use to get out of the borough eastwards do, all of them under Lancashire County Council orders, and the county republished three of them on 16 September as orders it has now made rather than intends to make.

Pool Hey Lane and Wyke Lane, Scarisbrick: level crossings, Saturday night 26 September. Both roads close for 20 metres either side of their level crossings from 11.59pm on Saturday 26 September until 7am on Sunday 27 September, so the crossings can be removed and replaced. There will be no access for emergency services while they are shut (Pool Hey Lane order, Wyke Lane order). Both diversions come back through Southport’s own streets:

• Moss Lane and the A5267 Roe Lane
• the B5276 Norwood Avenue and Meols Cop Road
• the A570 Scarisbrick New Road and Southport Road

Altcar Lane, Great Altcar, east of Formby, closes for 300 metres north of its junction with Punnells Lane from 8am on Monday 21 to 6pm on Wednesday 23 September, for a new water connection. The diversion runs via Acres Lane, the B5195 and the A5147, and the county says access for emergency services will be maintained wherever possible (Lancashire County Council order).

Asmall Lane, Halsall is shut between Summerwood Lane and North Moor Lane daily from 7am to 5pm until Friday 25 September, for new electricity cables. The diversion is via North Moor Lane, the A5147 Halsall Road and Summerwood Lane (Lancashire County Council order).

Greens Lane, Downholland, about five miles east of Formby, closes from its junction with the B5195 Formby Lane to Greens Lane Farm from 7am on Monday 21 September to 7pm on Wednesday 7 October, for major water mains replacement. The diversion uses the B5195 Broad Lane and the A5147. This is the one notice of the four that still says the county intends to make the order (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. Pedestrian access to properties is kept throughout.

What it means for you. The level crossing closures are the ones to note. They are short and overnight, but there is no emergency access at all, and the signed diversions run through Roe Lane, Norwood Avenue and Scarisbrick New Road. None of the others is on a main route into town. The A565 and the A570 stay open.

Sandbrook Way, Ainsdale: object by Wednesday 24 September

This one is a proposal rather than a closure, but it is permanent if it happens, and the clock runs out next week. The Department for Transport has given notice of a draft Order to authorise stopping up an irregular shaped area of highway including the whole of Sandbrook Way at Ainsdale, under section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (DfT notice, 27 August 2026). If made, the Order would only authorise the stopping up to enable development already permitted by Sefton Council.

• The draft order and plan can be inspected at Formby Library, 15 Duke Street, for 28 days from 27 August 2026.
• Objections go to the Secretary of State at nationalcasework@dft.gov.uk, quoting reference SUO3508534, by midnight on Wednesday 24 September 2026.

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 September, 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 scheme page has not been updated since 6 August, and we checked it again on 18 September. Nothing on it, and nothing on the council’s news pages, confirms that the main phase has actually begun, so “September” remains the plan rather than a start date you can rely on.

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. Add time from now until next spring. 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 says outstanding electrical connections mean works around Robbins Roundabout are still not complete. The final footway work and the new signal crossings switch on once those connections are made. 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.

Trains: four weeks of Northern Line works in the autumn

If your fallback for all of this is the train, put one date in the diary now. Merseyrail is closing 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:

• The closed section is Hunts Cross to Liverpool Central, Monday to Saturday, extending to Hunts Cross to Sandhills on Sundays.
• Trains continue to run between Liverpool Central and Southport, Ormskirk and Headbolt Lane, but to a different timetable.
• On Sundays, Southport trains run to Sandhills rather than Liverpool Central.
• Replacement buses cover Hunts Cross to Moorfields and do not call at Liverpool Central.
• Normal services resume on Saturday 7 November.

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 8 November

Two days after the tunnel work ends, the Southport line timetable changes for the leaf fall season (Merseyrail). From Sunday 8 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 Chester and Ellesmere Port lines change earlier, from Sunday 20 September, which does not affect journeys from this end of the network.

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 A5036 entries above, republished weekly.

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 Switch Island closed this weekend?

Yes, overnight. The M58 closes in both directions at Switch Island from 8pm on Saturday 19 September and again from 8pm on Sunday 20 September, each time until 6am. On both nights the A59 northbound from the M58 to Switch Island and the M57 northbound link onto the A5036 close over the same hours. The A5036 closes in both directions at the junction from 8pm on Friday 18 September, and again on Wednesday 23 September. All are on National Highways’ closure report for the week of 17 to 23 September, which is republished each Thursday.

How long is the M57 junction 1 entry slip closed?

The northbound junction 1 entry slip at Switch Island closed at 8pm on Wednesday 2 September and is booked to stay shut continuously until 6am on Wednesday 28 October 2026, which National Highways attributes to off network works. The southbound junction 1 exit slip down to Tarbuck Island is a separate and much longer closure, shut since May 2025 and booked to 31 January 2027 for works by Knowsley Council.

Which roads near Southport are closed next week?

Altcar Lane at Great Altcar closes from 8am on Monday 21 to 6pm on Wednesday 23 September, and Greens Lane at Downholland from Monday 21 September to 7 October, both for water works. Asmall Lane at Halsall stays shut in the daytime until Friday 25 September. The following Saturday night, 26 September, the level crossings on Pool Hey Lane and Wyke Lane at Scarisbrick close from 11.59pm to 7am with no emergency access. All are Lancashire County Council orders with signed diversions.