Major roadworks are planned for the M1 near Huddersfield ... and parts of the M62 will be shut next week too.

A £4m package of work is planned for an 8.5 mile stretch of the M1 past the Huddersfield turn-off between Wakefield and Barnsley which will improve the journeys for the thousands of drivers who use it every day.

The work on the M1 will take place between Denby Dale (junction 39) and Barnsley (junction 37) and includes resurfacing, drainage repairs, work to the embankment and barrier work. There will be a short section of narrow lanes at junction 38 for Huddersfield which will be in place 24 hours a day.

Work will start on Monday (November 20), is due to finish in February and is likely to affect overnight access to Woolley Edge Services from the M1.

The work is part of Highways England’s £80m maintenance improvements on Yorkshire’s roads this year.

Over the year in Yorkshire and Humber over 207 miles of lanes will be resurfaced, using over 100,000 tonnes of material. That’s the same as resurfacing one lane of the M1 between York and London and 1.5 times the weight of the new HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest aircraft carrier ever built for the Royal Navy.

Highways England project manager Martin Barnes said: “The work will be carried out overnight when traffic levels are at their lowest and no work will be taking place over the Christmas period.”

The work will be carried out between 9pm and 6am and is expected to be completed by February next year.

Drivers will still be able to get to Woolley Edge Services but will be diverted via the A636, A637 and West Bretton. Clearly signed diversions will be in place.

Meanwhile on the M62, the westbound carriageway at junction 27, Gildersome, will be fully closed between the slip roads overnight on Tuesday, November 21 for ‘technology works’. The closures will take place between 8pm and 6am.

On Saturday, November 25, the Leeds-bound carriageway will be fully closed overnight on for bridge works between Junction 27 at Gildersome and Junction 1 of the M621 at Beeston.

At Junction 22, Rishworth Moor, the westbound exit slip road will be fully closed overnight on Wednesday, November 22 for resurfacing works between 8pm and 6am.