Ranking Britain’s Most Disruptive Roadworks

When you find yourself waiting in a sea of taillights on the commute home, it’s easy to think that the roadworks on your local motorway seemingly go on forever – but how long do they really last for? We set out to find out, analysing data from Highways England’s roadworks search tool to understand where in Britain motorists are being affected by repairs on their roads.

Analysing a total of 107 A-roads and motorways, we were able to find out exactly how many projects are planned in for each region, including current on-going works and planned improvements over the next three years. From this, we were able to work out the total days of delays drivers could be facing in the coming months. We also paired these findings with official traffic data from the Department of Transport (DfT) to deliver an estimate of just how many journeys could be disrupted between now and 2021.

With this information, drivers can plan their journeys accordingly, avoiding potential delays and ensuring their journeys are as quick as possible during periods of essential maintenance.

The top 10 most disrupted roads

Road No. of roadworks Days delayed
M1 74 199
M5 60 288
M27 45 130
M62 42 503
M4 35 124
M6 34 1,586
A1 33 200
M25 27 395
M60 26 452
M20 23 113

roadworks by region

Our analysis revealed a total of 830 projects are currently planned in across the nation, but where in the UK do drivers have the highest and lowest chance of getting caught in roadworks? Our research revealed that drivers in the North West can expect the most delays, with a total of 161 planned projects over the coming three years, resulting in 1,152 days of potential delays to motorists. We’d attribute this to long portions of the M6 (which stretches 337 km from Gretna to Catthorpe) currently undergoing several maintenance and expansion projects. 

On the other hand, drivers in the East Midlands face the fewest potential delays, with just 91 projects currently planned in for the region. This amounts to just 123 days that drivers might be delayed, largely due to projects planned in along the portion of the M1 that stretches past Leicester and Nottingham.

Region No. of Roadworks Days Delayed Journeys Affected
North West 161 1,152 195,794,384
West Midlands 101 1,210 107,335,929
South East 233 460 102,916,873
East 117 642 68,918,626
North East & Yorks 127 506 54,433,954
East Midlands 91 123 10,561,156

roads to repair

So, which roads in the UK have the most roadworks planned in over the coming years? Perhaps not surprisingly, the M1 came out on top, with 74 repairs and improvements currently planned in. These equate to 199 days of potential delays, affecting around 29 million journeys over the coming months.

Other popular routes like the M62 and the M25 came in further down the list, with 42 and 27 projects planned in respectively. Despite having only 6 projects planned in at the moment, drivers on the M50 face some of the highest potential delays, with improvement works currently planned in over 746 days.

In contrast, the M48 (Gloucestershire), M45 (Warwickshire), and the M271 (Hampshire) all came out at the bottom of the list, with just one project each currently planned in. 

Want to find out where your local A-road or motorway has ranked? Use our interactive table below to find out:

Roads No. of Roadworks Days Delayed Journeys Affected
M1 74 199 29,334,486
M5 60 288 37,468,658
M27 45 130 20,737,305
M62 42 503 71,783,155
M4 35 124 19,720,136
M6 34 1,586 210,325,195
A1 33 200 11,003,304
M25 27 395 86,269,073
M60 26 452 80,762,646
M20 23 113 11,187,161
M2 21 152 15,795,169
M56 20 66 9,487,159
A38 19 116 4,960,878
A14 17 531 39,524,384
A3 16 165 10,303,664
A27 16 108 6,584,413
A45 14 24 1,372,106
A46 13 48 2,069,689
M40 12 38 5,238,191
M602 11 474 50,884,587
A12 11 170 13,303,856
M23 11 58 7,161,293
A30 11 51 1,520,688
M3 11 22 2,828,356
A52 11 18 632,950
A2 10 73 4,614,033
M42 10 38 5,005,913
A50 9 59 2,796,580
A5 9 55 2,039,960
M61 9 53 6,287,729
M18 9 39 3,868,916
A66 9 33 1,648,915
A63 8 40 1,399,890
M67 8 15 1,047,006
A19 7 63 3,556,323
M180 7 50 3,111,703
M69 7 42 2,828,139
A500 7 13 927,300
A282 7 12 1,867,335
M11 7 9 918,374
M50 6 746 27,275,645
A11 6 29 1,217,758
M58 5 86 5,208,135
M621 5 12 1,177,022
A56 5 10 315,607
M66 5 9 1,063,075
A20 5 8 262,438
M53 5 7 562,976
M55 4 276 20,353,583
A303 4 100 4,030,761
A421 4 46 2,192,999
A47 4 44 1,386,731
M65 4 37 2,941,309
A64 4 19 898,654
A5036 4 11 465,169
M54 4 7 374,279
A168 3 293 7,015,185
A2070 3 103 3,279,818
A40 3 69 3,613,496
A417 3 47 1,077,347
A34 3 37 1,638,729
A580 3 36 1,583,222
A449 3 36 944,839
A42 3 18 1,123,617
A184 3 15 578,585
A329 3 15 421,917
A404 3 10 363,000
A13 3 3 303,379
M49 2 56 1,825,404
A428 2 19 508,021
A43 2 14 554,959
A31 2 9 451,310
M275 2 8 765,321
A453 2 8 273,191
A21 2 8 295,824
A5148 2 7 298,071
M57 2 4 317,346
A627 2 3 66,990
A120 2 2 93,294
A638 2 2 57,463
A57 2 2 58,648
A414 1 362 16,380,753
M45 1 123 2,593,793
M48 1 102 3,419,071
A419 1 5 241,979
A49 1 5 124,389
A1307 1 5 110,739
M271 1 4 296,704
A5103 1 4 262,733
A308 1 3 103,785
A616 1 3 56,257
A550 1 2 56,322
A55 1 1 68,207
A316 1 1 64,268
A180 1 1 51,087
A23 1 1 43,133
A5111 1 1 43,062
A41 1 1 34,525
A174 1 1 37,632
A62 1 1 34,607
A1033 1 1 33,522
A631 1 1 21,605
A6 1 1 26,318
A5127 1 1 24,956
A1053 1 1 21,481
A69 1 1 29,540
A160 1 1 17,496
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