UK’s worst traffic jam hotspots and how to avoid them

An organisation has monitored traffic to reveal the worst roads in Britain for getting stuck

Ronan J. O'Shea
Wednesday 18 October 2017 16:35 BST
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Traffic jams cost the UK millions of pounds each year
Traffic jams cost the UK millions of pounds each year

Traffic jams may be a British pastime but compared to trips to the seaside or bank holidays – both often the cause of such congestion – they’re one of the less enjoyable staples of the national landscape.

A recent report has revealed the most prolonged jams in the UK, along with the roads with the most frequent build-up of traffic. According to the BBC, fuel spills, broken-down vehicles and an emergency viaduct repair cause the most severe delays, while the cost proves far greater than disruption and annoyance, with millions of pounds in wasted fuel and time a consequence of the UK’s traffic problems.

Inrix, a Washington-based organisation which monitors traffic in the age of mass car ownership, studied disruption on motorways and A roads between September 2016 and August 2017, discovering around 3,700 jams daily. The M5 in Somerset witnessed the most prolonged delays and longest tailbacks, while three of the top five jams were on the M6. Somerset also held an unenviable record of the worst traffic jam recorded, with a queue of 36 miles for 15 hours.

Traffic jams are reported to cost the UK over £9 billion each year

On 4 August 2017, drivers faced up to 15 hours of traffic jams after two lorries collided resulting in a fuel spill, which meant the carriageway of the M5 needed to be resurfaced. Inrix said it caused problems for drivers up to 36 miles away. It estimated the cost to the economy of this disruption as nearly £2.4m based on average fuel consumption, the number of people typically in cars and "assumptions" about the purpose of people's trips.

The UK's top 10 most congested roads, and the number of hours lost to them, were:

1. A406 Northbound, Chiswick Roundabout to Hanger Lane, London: 73 hours

2. A2 Eastbound, New Cross Gate to Prince Charles Road, London: 62 hours

3. A3211 Eastbound, Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, London: 57 hours

4. A102 Northbound, A2/Kidbrooke to Blackwall Tunnel, London: 51 hours

5. A4200 Southbound, Russell Square to Aldwych, London: 50 hours

6. A1 Southbound, College Gardens to Wallace Park, Belfast: 49 hours

7. A308 Eastbound, Putney Bridge Approach to Sloane Square, London: 46 hours

8. A431 Westbound, Bryants Hill to Lawrence Hill, Bristol: 45 hours

9. A24 Northbound, Ormeau Road to Ann Street, Belfast: 45 hours

10. A6 Northbound, Macclesfield Road to Heaton Lane, Manchester: 44 hours

The RAC has recently published a guide providing drivers with advice on how to avoid traffic jams wherever possible. Some of the organisation’s suggestions are straightforward: leave earlier or later than when most cars will be on the road; avoid main roads during peak hours and look for alternative routes when possible. However, the motoring body also recommends avoiding roads near beaches, DIY stores, furniture superstores and shopping centres.

It’s also advisable to ensure young children have something to keep them occupied, presumably to ease stress in the event of a delay, and drivers are recommended to always check the route before starting a journey in case of any unexpected delays or roadworks drivers are not aware of.

The M5 saw the longest traffic jam at 36 hours

The Inrix study noted that traffic jams in the UK can cost the economy over £9 billion in a year. Graham Cookson, the study's author, told The Independent: “The cost of this congestion is staggering, stripping the economy of billions, impacting businesses and costing consumers dearly. To tackle this problem, we must consider bold options such as remote working, wider use of road user charging and investment in big data to create more effective and intelligent transportation systems.”

The RAC recommends avoiding major roads during peak hours (Getty Images)

With regards to reducing the cost and incidence of heavy traffic in the UK, Mel Clarke, customer services director at Highway England, told The Independent: “In our first two years we met our target to clear 85 per cent of all incidents on our network within an hour and last year exceeded our target to keep 97 per cent of lanes available to road users, to help smooth the flow of traffic. We continue to work closely with police, local authorities and other partners to improve the way we work together. We want drivers to have the best possible experience on our network. To support this we provide accurate, up to date information about conditions on the roads and keep traffic moving as much as possible. We will continue to ensure roads are reopened safely, but as quickly as possible.”

While the UK often had major traffic problems on numerous roads, in 2017 it only ranked 4th in Europe for traffic congestion, lagging behind Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Bucharest, which topped the list.

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