The road network is set to benefit from a significant share of the £36 billion Network North plan announced by Rishi Sunak yesterday, in lieu of the HS2 leg to Manchester.
In the forward to the policy paper, the Prime Minister acknowledged: “Outside London, many rely on cars, yet our local roads are congested and poorly maintained.”
As net-zero initiatives come into force across the country – from ULEZ in London to 20mph speed limits in Wales – and the pothole problem worsens, drivers are becoming increasingly frustrated.
According to the latest Strategic Roads User Survey (SRUS), commissioned annually by the Department for Transport (DfT), the most important criterion for motorist satisfaction is journey time.
An Express.co.uk analysis has now revealed the most maddeningly slow roads in the country. Check our map and searchable table to see how your commute compares.
The data concerns the Strategic Road Network (SRN) – the 4,500 miles of major A-roads and motorways that form the backbone of the national transport network.
By this metric, the A2270, running between Polegate and central Eastbourne in East Sussex is prone to causing the most delays for its users.
Compared to free-flowing traffic, drivers faced hold-ups of 172.4 seconds per mile travelled – just under three minutes – in 2022.
This compares to an England-wide average of 18.2 seconds, up slightly from 17.9 seconds in 2021.
Second-worst was the A335 between Southhampton and Eastleigh (135.3 seconds), followed by the A57 between Liverpool and Manchester (99.9 seconds), the A59 between Liverpool and York (71.8 seconds) and the short stretch of the A308(M) linking Maidenhead to the M4 (65.2 seconds).
Despite these results, according to the survey the road frustrating drivers most in the country is the A27 between Portsmouth and Pevensey along the south coast.
With the lowest overall satisfaction score (59 percent), it also fared worst for journey time (62 percent). The average delay per mile last year was, however, just 18.5 seconds.
Although this may well be a reflection of increased traffic levels following the pandemic, the most recent data show delays to be getting worse.
Over the whole of the SRN, the average delay during the 12 months to June 2023 increased by 11.2 percent on the previous year.
The mean speed also declined by 1.5 percent to just 57.6mph.
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