Britain’s slowest roads revealed: Stretch of the A49 in Shropshire tops the list

Britain’s slowest roads, the worsts stretches for delays and repairs have been revealed in a list of ‘hellish highways’.  

Experts revealed the slowest stretch of major road in the country, with an average speed throughout 2022 of just 8.4mph, is a 1.2mile section of the A49 in Shropshire. 

That same stretch is also the nation’s most delayed as motorists lose 305 seconds, or more than five minutes per mile there on average. 

That’s more than 40 seconds per mile more than the next worst, a 1500m stretch of the A627(M) outside Rochdale, where traffic averagely crawls at 10.1mph.

In third place was a stretch of road in Surrey – the A30 eastbound between M25 and A308 which had an average speed of 10.6mph. 

The research was analysed by Forbes Advisor who looked at the slowest, most delayed and worst maintained roads in England by using Department for Transport data to pinpoint where in the country motorists are most likely to be held up for the longest time and move at the slowest average speeds.

A 1.2 mile stretch of the A49 in Shropshire is country’s slowest section of road with average speeds measured at 8.4mph (file photo)

Different stretches of the A49 in and around the same area make up no fewer than six of the slowest 10 stretches of road for average speeds, and five of the worst 10 for time lost to delays. 

The A2270 in East Sussex is the slowest and most delayed road overall – with speeds averaging just 13.7mph and drivers losing almost three minutes per mile.

The A57, which runs in stretches from Lincoln to Liverpool, was found to be the second slowest major road with drivers averaging 16.6mph, and the A335 near Southampton was next at 18.4mph. 

Findings of the research showed Derbyshire has the highest percentage of roads in England needing maintenance – one in five (20 per cent) of ‘A’ roads and almost a quarter (24 per cent) of ‘B and C’ roads flagged.

It also found highways in England and Wales need £14 billion worth of repairs and that there are 22,600 miles of road in ‘poor’ overall condition – almost the equivalent length of the equator.

Kevin Pratt, car insurance expert at Forbes Advisor, said: ‘Suffering delays when driving is routine these days, with many of us building in an allowance for getting stuck in traffic or generally making slow progress. 

‘Traffic apps are specifically designed to identify known problem areas so we can – hopefully – take evasive action.

The second slowest stretch of road is a 1500m stretch of the A627(M) outside Rochdale (file photo)

The third slowest stretch of road was in Surrey – the A30 eastbound between M25 and A308 (file photo)

‘This situation is in some respects inevitable given that we now have over 30 million vehicles in the UK – the roads are simply at full capacity. 

‘But it is also the case that many delays are caused by roads being in poor condition and drivers responding accordingly – half of motorists say poor road conditions is the primary reason they feel unsafe when driving.

‘It is vital that our roads infrastructure is properly maintained to help keep traffic running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. 

‘Collectively, drivers pay billions every year in excise duty and fuel tax, so it is only right they see money flowing in the other direction.’