Do YOU drive on one of Britain’s slowest A-roads where the average speed is less than 30mph? 

Britain’s slowest A roads are so outdated and in dire need of repair that they are hampering economic growth, a new report warns.

The roads, many of which were originally designed in the 1960s, cause financial disparities between regions – particularly within ‘major cities in the Midlands and the North’.

A report published by the National Infrastructure Commission, sent to the Treasury and the Department of Transportation, found that some of the country’s slowest A-roads have average speeds of less than 30 mph.

The A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford, the A27 between Brighton and Eastbourne and the A52 between Grantham and Nottingham are all listed as urgent investments.

The report also highlighted concerns about the quality of the road network around key ports in Southampton and Dover, where freight distribution often leads to major congestion.

Heavy traffic on the A13, one of the slowest moving A roads in the UK, over Christmas last year

Key stretches connecting towns and villages to local motorway networks, including around Sunderland and Sheffield, were also included in the report.

It reads: ‘Most of the major connections on the network were originally designed in the 1960s and a number of structures need to be updated or modified to extend their lifespan.

“Risks related to obsolete assets, heavy use, extreme weather events due to climate change, deferred maintenance of local roads and, in some cases, a lack of alternative routes all pose an increasing challenge to resilience.”

It sets out a strategy to boost growth in underperforming regions and adds: ‘To achieve this strategic goal, the economies of regional cities should be supported in particular.

‘Large cities in the Midlands and the North are falling short of their productivity potential, which is the main cause of overall regional disparities.

‘Providing good transport links between them is a necessary – if not sufficient – ​​condition to improve economic performance.

“High-income cities tend to be close to higher productivity cities, indicating that the benefits of successful cities spread to surrounding regions.”

Improving the road network allows underperforming regions to “specialize in certain sectors and increase their productivity,” it continues.

Driving remains the main form of travel for the majority of Britons, with 82 per cent of passenger journeys longer than 10 miles being made by car.

About 77 percent of domestic freight transport is also transported by road.

The report also highlighted concerns about the quality of the road network around key ports in Southampton and Dover. Pictured: Traffic on the A20 to reach the port of Dover in Kent last week

Heavy traffic is pictured along the A4 Hammersmith Flyover, which has been identified as one of Britain’s slowest moving A roads

The report suggests that increasing the supply of transportation infrastructure could boost GDP by as much as 0.06 percent.

The scale of the impact is also said to be greater than that of roads than before the development of Britain’s rail network.

But the report acknowledged that the development of Britain’s road network would currently come at the expense of environmental concerns, including biodiversity and air quality.

Transport accounted for almost a quarter of the UK’s total CO2 emissions – the largest of any sector.

Sir John Armitt, the chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, said: ‘Removing bottlenecks is crucial to boosting trade between major cities and freight hubs, but it must not come at the expense of the environment.

“We need to flex every nerve to enable drivers to switch to electric vehicles with confidence and make road construction less CO2 intensive.”

The report contains a number of recommendations, including a call for the government to develop a vision that will ensure that the economic performance of high-productivity regions is maintained and that faster growth of low-performing regions is supported.

It also said the government should identify corridors for future development that will help reduce economic disparities.

It comes after research from Forbes Advisor found last month that motorways in England and Wales need £14bn worth of repairs and there are 22,600 miles of road in ‘poor’ overall condition – nearly the equivalent length of the equator.

The Welsh government also halted all of the country’s major road construction projects in February in a bid to put environmental concerns first.

The decision was announced by Deputy Secretary of Climate Change Lee Waters, who said all future infrastructure projects must now “reduce carbon emissions and support a shift to public transport, walking and cycling.”

It followed a year-long review by the Welsh Roads Review Panel, set up in September 2021 and led by transport expert Dr Lynn Sloman, which saw 55 road projects paused and reassessed.