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Midlands motorway named ‘best’ by drivers who say ‘few delays’

Drivers have named the M40 as their favourite motorway to drive on in England. The motorway, linking Birmingham[1] and London, came out on top in a survey of nearly 10,000 road users. Conducted by watchdog Transport Focus, those polled gave the M40 a satisfaction score of 79%.

Neighbouring M42 fared worse coming bottom with a meagre 56%. While those lambasting the M42 blamed the condition of the road and seemingly arbitrary speed limits, the M40, which takes drivers through Warwickshire[2] and Oxfordshire, was said to be plain sailing. One person surveyed said it is “one of the few motorways that has few delays when I travel on it”.

Government-owned company National Highways is responsible for England’s motorways and major A roads. Transport Focus chief executive Alex Robertson said: “Drivers tell us that the maintenance of motorways and major roads – how most of us get around the country – is more important to them than building new roads. “With road user perceptions of road surface quality deteriorating since 2022 – and declining satisfaction with journey times – National Highways must continue to focus on delivering safe, smooth journeys.

“We’re committed to working with the Government and National Highways to help them to deliver on road users’ top priorities: improved journey times and satisfaction with surface quality.” The overall satisfaction score for respondents’ last journeys on motorways or major A roads declined from 73% in 2022/23 to 71% in 2023/24. Satisfaction with journey times has fallen from 71% to 68%.

National Highways was approached for a comment.

Here are the top five ranked motorways (overall satisfaction score in brackets)

  1. M40 (79%)
  2. M4 (78%)
  3. M5 (77%)
  4. M56 (73%)
  5. M3 (73%)

Here are the bottom five ranked motorways (overall satisfaction score in brackets)

  1. M42 (56%)
  2. M62 (60%)
  3. M25 (67%)
  4. M11 (68%)
  5. M1 (69%)

References

  1. ^ Birmingham (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
  2. ^ Warwickshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
  3. ^ West Midlands motorway dubbed England’s ‘worst’ as drivers pinpoint biggest issues (www.birminghammail.co.uk)

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