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A smart motorway in Hampshire has been rated England’s worst major highway owing to concerns over roadworks and traffic jams.
Little more than half of drivers responding to an annual survey by Transport Focus, a government watchdog, said they were satisfied with their journey on the 28-mile M27.
Yet across all the nation’s motorways and major A-roads, satisfaction averaged 71 per cent, up from 69 per cent last year.
Drivers on smart motorway sections, including the M27, continued to report lower confidence levels, with 78 per cent saying they felt safe compared with 82 per cent on conventional motorways.
One of the respondents to the Strategic Road User Survey described roadworks on the M27 as “terrible” because they caused reduced speeds and narrowed lanes, despite “very rarely” seeing any work happening.
The road has seen long-running works for resurfacing and junction modifications following the installation of a smart motorway system in 2022. Sections of the hard shoulder have been repurposed as additional lanes – a move that is frequently criticised as it risks leaving broken-down vehicles stranded in live traffic.
The M27 is used by about 110,000 vehicles per day along its Southampton stretch.
Other motorways fared much better in the survey. Kent’s M20 was ranked as the nation’s favourite motorway, with a satisfaction rating of 79 per cent. Close behind was the M56, which cuts across Manchester.
Ratings for journey times and road surfaces all improved year-on-year, although just half of motorists said they were happy with the management of roadworks.
Frequent complaints include miles of cones being laid out, together with the deployment of speed cameras enforcing lowered limits, despite few or no workers being visibly present for much of the time.
The A30, which runs between west London and Cornwall, was ranked the best A road, with a 79 per cent satisfaction score.
At the other end of the scale, the A12 between the east of the capital and Suffolk had the lowest rating, at 64 per cent.
England’s network of motorways and major A-roads is entering one of its largest maintenance periods since much of it was first built in the 1960s.
National Highways is embarking on a five-year renewals programme as part of the government’s third Road Investment Strategy (RIS 3), which is likely to involve more roadworks in the coming years.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said there was an “important link between road users’ satisfaction and how well they feel roadworks are being managed”.
He added: “The picture that emerges suggests National Highways will need to up its game more consistently across England given the scale of maintenance work planned for the network through to 2030.”
However, Louise Collins, director of Transport Focus, said the survey results demonstrated that “positive improvements to the road-user experience are possible”.
“Overall satisfaction has increased and there are encouraging signs that drivers are noticing improvements in key areas, however drivers continue to tell us that roadworks can make or break a journey,” she added.
“By applying the positive lessons from recent schemes, National Highways has an opportunity to ensure roadworks are well planned, clearly communicated and minimise disruption wherever possible.”
National Highways is responsible for England’s Strategic Road Network, comprising motorways and major A-roads. A spokesman described the Transport Focus survey’s results as “encouraging”.
Sandie Forte-Gill, the organisation’s customer director, said: “Overall, the results suggest that we’ve understood what’s important to our customers and our work on improving their experiences is making a positive difference.
“Although satisfaction with roadworks has improved this year, we recognise it remains one of the aspects of the journey experience where customers expect more from us.”
Satisfaction with journeys on smart motorways rose from 60 per cent last year to 66 per cent, according to the survey of more than 9,500 people. Transport Focus attributed this to the completion of work to retrofit 150 additional emergency refuge areas, which involved widespread roadworks causing delays. Those works cost taxpayers £900m.
