A MAJOR route used by 300,000 vehicles daily will remain closed for the next few weeks, potentially playing havoc with the school run.
Millions of kids are flocking back to classrooms after the summer holidays ended last week.
However, thousands of families could find themselves hit with long delays thanks to a significant roadworks project.
Bosses at National Highways have urged drivers to “allow more time to travel” as a busy section of the M1, which has been closed for weeks, will not reopen in time to allow school traffic through.
The agency is carrying out upgrade work on the safety barrier along a stretch of the motorway, leaving one lane closed and a temporary speed limit enforced.
Workmen will be removing the old metal barrier and replacing it with a concrete divider between the two carriageways.
The affected area covers a section of the route running through West Yorkshire from J43 at Belle Isle to J47 at Parlington.
Lane three is closed between the two junctions in both directions, narrowing the carriageways down to two lanes each.
There is also a temporary 50mph speed limit imposed throughout to ensure the safety of workers.
This is expected to result in tailbacks and lengthy delays.
Fortunately, though, National Highways have named an end date for this round of works.
The closure will be lifted from J46 to J47 from September 16, with restrictions fully lifted by early October.
However, closures are likely to return in the coming months as the project as a whole is not expected to be completed until May 2025.
National Highways Project Manager Daniel Edwards said: “We’re pleased that we’ll be able to finish the first phase of the scheme earlier than planned.
“However, while we make these improvements, we advise people to allow more time for their journeys in this area, especially during the morning and afternoon peak traffic periods.
“We understand the replacement has been causing disruption and delays to people’s journeys and are working a mixture of days and nights to complete this scheme as soon as we can.”
It comes after cops were left baffled by a driver’s bizarre excused after he was clocked at 140mph on a busy main road.
