WORK to end the traffic jam ‘nightmare’ at the M65 roundabout between Guide and Belthorn will come a step closer on Thursday.

Blackburn with Darwen borough’s executive board is set to approve spending £1.4million to install traffic lights at the heavily- congested junction which is used by motorists from across East Lancashire to visit Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The go-ajead will allow work to start in January and be completed by March 31.

It will go hand in hand with a related £1.6 million scheme to cut congestion on the Haslingden Road corridor in Blackburn.

The two-pronged scheme will change the Junction 5 roundabout at Guide into a ‘fully signalled’ junction while there is further work to widen highways, including Haslingden Road, and add extra lanes.

The aim is to improve access to the hospital and prevent Grane Road traffic queues blocking in residents at Belthorn and speed rush our travel out of Blackburn.

Currently the roundabout is only partially-controlled by two sets of traffic lights.

The scheme, a joint effort by the borough council and the Highways Agency will install a further two sets of traffic signals timed to prevent traffic queues and queue jumping spreading into Belthorn.

It will see each arm of the roundabout controlled by lights aimed at improving traffic flow.

Blackburn with Darwen regeneration chief Maureen Bateson hopes the improvements will help deliver 1,980 jobs, and 3,495 homes by 2020 through improving the key link to developments in the borough.

Employment sites include land at Shadsworth and Haslingden Road, Chapels Park in Darwen, Hollins Goods Yard, and the town centre Cathedral Quarter scheme.

Housing sites include land off Haslingden Road, Clarendon Road East, the Blackburn Royal Infirmary site, the bus depot off Whitebirk Drive, land to the east of Darwen, off Shelly Road, and Fishmoor Drive.

Both schemes will be paid for out of the government’s £25 million government Pinch Point Fund to remove problem bottlenecks.

Coun Bateson said: “We have had problems with this busy junction for a long time, with traffic backed up on the motorway.

“The signals will improve the traffic flow and reduce congestion.

“ It is a busy junction and an important gateway to the town including the industrial sites, the hospital and homes.

“ I am pleased that work will soon start.”