BETWEEN £120 million and £220 million has been earmarked for a new congestion-busting scheme on a busy route connecting two motorways near Bradford.

The money will be used to create a "free flowing connection" for motorists travelling to Bradford from Leeds using the M62 and M606 and will see vehicles by-passing Chain Bar roundabout.

Highways England bosses are still discussing the options for the scheme, but an underpass is a possibility.

In addition they will look to update the country's first motorway car share lane, which has linked the southbound M606 to the eastbound M62 towards Leeds since it was opened in 2008, allowing vehicles with more than two or more people to avoid the congested roundabout and cut their journey times.

Highways England’s director of major projects in the north, Jeremy Bloom told the Telegraph & Argus that options were being drawn up and that they expected these to go out to consultation next year.

"Essentially we are trying to take the traffic out of the Chain Bar junction, so that if you are travelling from Leeds to and from Bradford, you don't have to use the roundabout which slows people down."

He gave details of the project as the Highways Agency unveiled more than £1.3 billion of improvements to roads in the region over the next five years, and added that the Chain Bar improvements would not be likely to start until 2019 at the earliest.

Mr Bloom said: “Drivers in Yorkshire and the Humber will see significant investment in major A roads and motorways across the region. These schemes will bring significant benefits to the users of the road network.”

He added that they were also looking at what they could do to be more innovative during the construction of these major projects to minimise the impact on road users.

Highways England Yorkshire and North East divisional director, Vanessa Gilbert, added: “It’s vital that we continue to improve the existing road network which is why we’re also investing millions of pounds on resurfacing, safety barriers and other maintenance projects across the whole Yorkshire and the Humber region.

“In addition to the £1.3 billion, we will be spending over £100 million a year for the next five years on maintenance and smaller scale improvement schemes. Motorways and trunk roads form the backbone of the region’s economy and this huge investment will ensure they remain healthy for many years to come.”

The organisation, which took over responsibility for England's motorways and major A roads earlier this year, also unveiled another key project due to start by 2020, which is to extend the smart motorway scheme that currently exists on the M62 to cover junctions 20 to 25. This will create the biggest single stretch of smart motorway in the country, covering nearly 60 miles and ten junctions from 20 to 30.

An extra lane and variable speed limits are used to keep the traffic moving. Work was completed on the existing managed motorway section in September 2013, opening up the hard shoulder along 15.5 miles of the busy M62.

Other projects planned for the region include £55m of improvements to junctions 1 to 7 of the M621, upgrades to junction 45 of the M1 to enhance access to the Aire Valley development, and improvements to the A63 on a key route to Hull.

The work is part of the government’s Road Investment Strategy, a £15 billion plan which was announced last year to triple levels of spending on England’s roads by the end of the decade, increasing their capacity and condition.