UK’s worst roads revealed

The UK is ranked the sixth worst for traffic in Europe, according to a new report from leading traffic information and driver services provider INRIX.

The 2013 Annual INRIX Traffic Scorecard shows that traffic congestion in Europe rose in 2013 for the first time in two years.

In the UK, drivers wasted approximately 30 hours in traffic congestion in 2013, one more hour than 2012. Overall, motorists in the UK spent less time in traffic than fellow drivers in Belgium, Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg and approximately 30 fewer hours than travellers in Europe’s worst country for traffic, Belgium.

Traffic congestion was up in nine of the 18 UK cities analysed. The biggest increase in traffic congestion was London (+13%) where drivers sat idle for 82 hours in traffic, 10 more hours than 2012.

Based on the amount of hours wasted last year in traffic, the UK’s 10 worst metropolitan areas for driving were:

 

Rank	UK Metropolitan Area	Hours Wasted in 2013	Change from 2012 (in hours)
1	London commute zone	82	10
2	Gr. Manchester	46	2
3	Merseyside	39	2
4	S. Nottinghamshire	39	4
5	Gr. Birmingham	33	1
6	Gr. Belfast	31	1
7	S. Yorkshire	26	-1
8	Leeds-Bradford	25	2
9	Avon & N. Somerset	24	0
10	Portsmouth-Fareham	24	-1

A 14-mile stretch of the A4 near London has been named the UK’s worst road; costing drivers approximately 91 hours last year.

President and CEO of INRIX Bryan Mistele said: “So goes traffic, so goes the economy. While bad news for drivers, increases in traffic congestion in Europe are signs of a slowly recovering economy.”

The amount of time British drivers spent in traffic throughout the year has risen slightly, from 29 hours in 2012 to 30 hours in 2013. This puts the UK in sixth place in Europe, behind Belgium (1st), the Netherlands, Germany, France and Luxembourg respectively. Drivers in Belgium spent almost twice as long in traffic (58 hours) as British drivers in 2013. The most congested European city is Brussels, where drivers spent 83 hours in traffic last year.

Based on total annual hours of delay in the worst peak period (either morning or evening), the UK’s 10 worst roads for traffic last year were:

 

Rank	Metropolitan Area	Road(s)	Between	And	Distance (miles)	Worst Peak Period (am /pm)	Total Delay per Year (hours)
1	London	A4	Central London	The M4	14.2	pm	91
2	London	A4	The M4	Central London	14.7	pm	73
3	London	A215	Camberwell	Croydon turn off	9.55	pm	67
4	London	A217	Morden	Chelsea	10.4	pm	67
5	London	A1/A1(M)	Finchley	Barbican	8.43	pm	66
6	London	A23	Croydon	Westminster Bridge Road	8.62	pm	63
7	London	A205	Catford	Woolwich Ferry	6.86	pm	60
8	London	A41	Central London	M1	7.54	pm	52
9	London	A12	Stratford	M25	13.6	pm	50
10	London	A406	Chiswick Roundabout	Neasden Junction	5.88	pm	48