A £15.7million transport plan will see improvements made to Birdwell roundabout to ease congestion and more than 21 miles of roads repaired or resurfaced.
Barnsley Council's ruling cabinet rubberstamped a report which sets out details of the transport plan.
Coun Roy Miller said it is crucial to make sure the right transport infrastructure is in place so Barnsley can grow.
The plan includes continuing to develop a new road scheme at Birdwell roundabout at junction 36 to increase capacity on the A61 Sheffield Road, which is the second most congested road in the country according to the Department for Transport.
It will also pave the way to cater for an increase in traffic expected from new business sites which are planned for nearby Hoyland.The report says the signalisation of junction 37 should resolve existing congestion problems and also provide capacity for future development in the area.
More than 21 miles of roads will also be repaired or resurfaced as part of a new roads maintenance programme for 2014/15.
The roads are chosen on a 'worst first' basis although some preventative work will take place to prevent roads requiring more expensive treatment in a few years' time.
