Council transport engineers are set to press ahead with drawing up final plans for a £3.3million scheme to improve congestion at Saltaire Roundabout.

At a meeting last night, members of the Shipley Area Committee endorsed a package of measures to turn the heavily-congested roundabout into a traffic light junction.

The scheme also includes further measures to cut out rat-running in surrounding areas such as Saltaire village and Nab Wood.

Calling for members to back the project, Richard Gelder, a principal engineer in Bradford Council’s major highways unit, said: “It is deliverable within the time scale and within budget constraints.”

He told members that, if nothing is done, the roundabout may be gridlocked by 2019. To tackle the major problems, £1.3 million already provided by the Department for Transport (DfT) would be spent on the signalled junction but work in surrounding areas such as Saltaire village and Nab Wood will be carried out first.

That is because £2m has to be spent next year or it may be lost to other projects in West Yorkshire.

The whole project will total £3.3m and will improve safety and cut typical journey times from Bradford to the Aire Valley, said Mr Gelder.

However, Councillor David Heseltine, chairman of the committee, said he had “grave reservations” about the project’s value for money. “I am worried about the actual benefits we are going to get out of this for the costs involved,” he said. “We seem to be tinkering around for £3.3million, rather than making significant strides forward.”

Councillor Vanda Greenwood (Lab, Windhill and Wrose) added: “If this scheme does not dramatically reduce the volume of traffic then I think we need to think again. I do not want to take the gamble of spending £3m if it will make no difference.”

However Coun John Hall (Lib Dem, Windhill and Wrose) gave his support.

He said: “If this scheme does not go ahead, the situation is going to get far worse.”

The committee voted to endorse the current scheme, in principle, and asked for a more detailed presentation before it goes before the Council’s executive in December.