The Heysham to M6 Link Road Project has won two major awards from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).



The joint Lancashire County Council and Costain project team walked away with the prestigious International Dilmun Environmental Award and a RoSPA Gold Award for Occupational Health and Safety at the society’s annual awards ceremony at the ExCeL London.

The £130m scheme, due to open later this year, will connect the Heysham peninsula directly to the M6, providing better access to Morecambe and industrial areas which include the Port of Heysham and the Heysham power stations.

The new road, to be known as the Bay Gateway, will make the area more appealing for businesses by reducing travel times and increasing connections to the regional and national road network. It will also reduce congestion and help people to get around the area, opening up new job opportunities.

The main part of the scheme involves constructing a 4.8km dual carriageway from the A589 between Morecambe and Lancaster to an upgraded Junction 34 on the M6, with additional measures to improve transport in Lancaster including a Park and Ride.

Winning a RoSPA Gold Award means that a project or team has achieved a very high level of performance, demonstrating well-developed occupational health and safety management systems and culture, outstanding control of risk and very low levels of error, harm and loss.

The RoSPA International Dilmun Environmental Award recognises excellence in environmental as well as health and safety management.

County Councillor John Fillis, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "An incredible amount of work has gone into creating the Bay Gateway, and I'm very glad the project team have been recognised for their rigorous and conscientious work to limit the impact on the environment, and ensure that everyone who works on the road goes home safely.

“Building this road has involved moving an enormous quantity of earth and creating some very big new structures, all or which is potentially very dangerous work. It will be clear to anyone who has visited the site that the team has an absolute commitment to ensuring the project is delivered as safely as possible.

“The county council has always been clear that we wish to limit the environmental impact of the Bay Gateway as far as we reasonably can. Measures such as new habitat creation areas have been a fundamental part of the project from the start. In building the road, the team have shown they are working at the forefront of the construction industry in developing practises which have delivered genuine savings in fuel, energy and carbon emissions."