Road to the future - what road users want from Highways England’s 2020-25 Route Strategies, looks at road users’ experiences of England's motorways and major 'A' roads to help inform Highways England’s Route Strategies for 2020 and beyond.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Road users want congestion to be tackled as part of future roads investment. It’s now up to Highways England to use this research to help it focus on developing long-term investment priorities and make a real difference for road users.”
The research by Transport Focus, in partnership with Highways England, found:
- Tackling congestion and poor traffic flow are road users’ top issues for long-term improvement to the road network
- The M25 to Solent (A3 and M3) route and London Orbital/M23 to Gatwick route were seen to generate the most problems out of all England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads
- While the majority of individual journeys on motorways and major ‘A’ roads are satisfactory, four in 10 road users report having experienced problems over the past year.
Jim O’Sullivan, chief executive of Highways England, added: “We are committed to improving road users’ experience of the strategic road network through the delivery of the record £15bn investment for the benefit of road users, businesses and communities.
“We welcome Transport Focus’s report which provides valuable insight. Improving journeys, making them safer and faster with more reliable journey times, is at the heart of our priorities for the next road period – 2020 to 2025.”
Transport Focus, the independent transport user watchdog, asked over 4,400 drivers about their most recent journey and their top priorities for improvement.
This research will help Highways England ensure road users’ views are at the heart of the 18 Route Strategies for 2020 and beyond and identify how specific improvements to the road network might reduce dissatisfaction.
