The UK’s most congested road has been revealed as data reveals drivers lost a week’s worth of time sat in traffic jams last year.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of the worst offenders can be found in large cities with five of the top seven most congested roads being found in London.
Seeing off stiff competition from other roads in the English capital, the A406 North Circular Road from Chiswick Roundabout to Hanger Lane took home the title of the UK’s most congested road with drivers losing around 61 hours on that road alone in 2018.
The A406 has been described as an ‘avoid at all costs’ by users of the road and with traffic known to build up from as early as 4:30 am, it’s not hard to see why.
The information released by traffic data firm Inrix revealed drivers lost on average 178 hours in 2018 and according to Inrix estimates, over £1,300 per driver was lost during these wasted hours.
While the most congested road was found in London, packed roads in Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow also featured in the list. You can find the full list released by Inrix below.
- A406 North Circular Rd (London) from Chiswick Roundabout to Hanger Lane – 61 hours lost per year
- A23 Brixton Rd (London) from Kennington to Thornton Rd – 56 hours lost per year
- Kingsway/Strand/Cannon Street (London) from Russell Square to Monument – 49 hours lost per year
- Leeds Rd/Saltaire Rd (Leeds) from Harrogate Rd to Bradford Rd – 44 hours lost per year
- A34 Stratford Rd (Birmingham) from Highfield Rd to Highgate Middleway – 44 hours lost per year
- A406 North Circular Rd (London) from East Finchley to Edmonton – 43 hours lost per year
- A1203 The Highway (London) from Canary Wharf to Tower of London – 43 hours lost per year
- A34 Stratford Rd (Birmingham) from Highgate Middleway to Highfield Rd – 42 hours lost per year
- Huddersfield Rd/Leeds Rd (Leeds) from Dewsbury to Huddersfield – 40 hours lost per year
- Bury New Rd (Manchester) from Higher Broughton to M60 (Outer Ring Rd) – 34 hours lost per year
- Bramhall Lane South (Manchester) from Bridge Lane to Stockport – 33 hours lost per year
- Dudley Port (Black Country) from Black Country Rd to Dudley – 32 hours lost per year
- Chapel/Crescent/Broad Str (Manchester) from Victoria Bridge to the M60 (Outer Rind Rd) – 32 hours lost per year
- Great Western Road (Glasgow) from Kelvinside to Bearsden Rd – 31 hours lost per year
- Soho Hill/Birmingham Rd (Birmingham) from Icknield Str to the M5 West Bromwich – 30 hours lost per year
Despite costing the UK economy an estimated £8bn a year, no UK city made the top 5 of most congested cities in the world. The Russian capital city Moscow top the charts with drivers losing 210 hours a year, the most amount of wasted time when adjusted for population size.
Istanbul, Bogota in Columbia, Mexico City and Sao Paulo rounded of the top 5 with London named the sixth most congested city in the world.
