A new survey has named and shamed England’s worst motorway, and it’s bad news for anyone who regularly uses the M1, now officially the least-liked motorway in the country. Just 57% of drivers said they were happy with their journey.
The biggest issue? Endless roadworks and frustrating 50mph speed limits caused by the construction of new emergency areas for smart motorways. One driver summed it up: "Miles of coned off road with little or no sign of actual work being done." Another added: "Roadworks and average speed checks. M1 is a very difficult road to plan time-wise."
It’s not just the M1. Across England, satisfaction with motorway journeys is falling, with only 69% of drivers saying they’re happy. That’s a drop of 2% from last year. According to Transport Focus, the group behind the survey, most people get that the work is necessary, but they’re still fed up with the chaos it causes.
And it's not just the M1 under fire.
On the M3, one driver ranted about 15 miles of speed restrictions and long delays just trying to reach the M25. Someone on the M27 said they didn’t see a single worker on site during their journey, adding that “the completion could be accelerated massively if they worked around the clock."
The worst-rated A road was the A47, with only 56% of users satisfied. One driver complained about potholes, damaged surfaces, and poorly designed roundabouts.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. The A30 from Exeter to Penzance was voted England’s best road, thanks to its recent upgrade to a dual carriageway and fresh new surface, something that made a noticeable difference to journey times.
The South West region came out on top overall for road satisfaction, while the area around the M25 scored lowest. Unsurprisingly, lorry drivers are the most unhappy group, with just 55% saying they’re satisfied with their journey.
England’s Worst-Rated Roads
| Rank | Road | Satisfaction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A47 | 56% |
| 2 | M1 | 57% |
| 3 | M27 | 60% |
| 4 | M25 | 60% |
| 5 | M4 | 62% |
| 6 | M42 | 62% |
| 7 | A27 | 62% |
| 8 | A12 | 63% |
| 9 | M60 | 65% |
| 10 | A3 | 66% |
Louise Collins, director at Transport Focus, said, "Long stretches of roadworks, sometimes one after another, and miles of cones have had a significant impact on road user satisfaction with England’s motorways, with a disappointing downward trend over the past couple of years.
"While roadworks are necessary to help maintain roads and drive improvements in user experience, the decrease in road user satisfaction reinforces the importance of National Highways learning the lessons from the smart motorway emergency area retrofit programme.
"We’ll be working with National Highways to help them use these survey findings as they plan future roadworks to make sure the impact on users is minimised."
There is some hope though. Now that the emergency area upgrades finished in March, early signs suggest that driver satisfaction is slowly starting to bounce back.
