The canal company never did find the capital to finance the construction of a canal to cross the Ribble Valley. The tram road ran successfully for over seventy years before the all-pervasive steam locomotive operated railway superseded it.
All traces of the tram road at the Preston terminus have been obliterated by development. The tunnel beneath Fishergate now serves as the entrance to the Fishergate Centre car park. The Avenham Incline slope remains and the section from the Tram Bridge to Todd Lane North is recognisable and open to the public. The tall lime trees which now flank its banks were planted by the Victorians.
All traces of the engine house and its associated reservoirs have long since disappeared from the landscape. The remains of the engine house were used in the formation of Avenham Park. According to the Preston Guardian published on 31st May 1873, "All the massive stone bed of the engine house has been worked into steps, of which in various directions there are some half dozen new flights".
The most substantial monument to the tram road is provided by a stone bridge abutment constructed to support the timber decking that carried the dual track across Garden Street.