Cornwall A30 in top ten list of best rated roads in UK

This is according to the results of a new survey from the independent watchdog, Transport Focus. 

The Strategic Roads User Survey asked more than 9,000 road users about their last journey on a motorway or major ‘A’ road managed by National Highways. 

The A30 was named joined ninth best, with a 73 per cent overall satisfaction rate, while the nearest motorway to Cornwall, the M5 starting in Devon, came fourth with a 77 per satisfaction rate.

One driver said of the M5: “Traffic was not heavy, few lorries, other drivers were sensibly driving.”

However, this was a drop in score for the south west motorway, which last year claimed the top spot with an 82 per cent satisfaction rate.

This year the M40 motorway, linking London, Oxford, and Birmingham, had the highest overall satisfaction at 79 per cent, although this also dropped from 82 per cent last year.

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The A19, which runs to the outskirts of Newcastle, was rated the best ‘A’ road in England, with the highest overall satisfaction at 85 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, drivers named the M42 as the worst motorway in England, placing at the bottom of the league table after it scored just 56 per cent.

Much of this is likely to be the result of a significant period of roadworks around Birmingham airport, with one person reporting: “Roadworks, potholes and delays. Terrible road to drive on.” 

The A12, which runs from London to the edge of Suffolk, received the lowest overall satisfaction rating from road users (55 per cent), followed by the A27 along the south coast (63 per cent).  

Alex Robertson, chief executive at the independent watchdog Transport Focus 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.” 

Key findings 

Overall, 71 per cent of road users were satisfied with their journey, which is a decrease from 73 per cent last year. 

Road user satisfaction with journey time declined to 68 per cent, down from 71 per cent last year. 

Satisfaction with road surface quality also declined to 68 per cent, compared with 73 per cent last year. 

Management of roadworks continues to be one of the weaker performing areas, with 49 per cent of drivers that passed through roadworks on their journey satisfied with their management, similar to last year.  

Regionally, from the seven National Highways regions, it was the South West that was the highest rated, with an overall user satisfaction score of 76 per cent. The M25 region was lowest at 68 per cent.  

The most improved region was the North West - the only region to have seen an increase in overall satisfaction, which moved it from joint bottom in 2022/2023 (on 70 per cent), to second on 73 per cent in the latest survey.

Full list of roads with overall rank and overall satisfaction percentage

1. A19        85 %
2. M40       79 %
3. M4         78 %
4. M5         77 %
5. A1(M)    76 %
6. A38        75 %
7. A46        74 %
8. M56       73 %
9. A30        73 %
10. M3         73 %
11. M60       72 %
12. M6         71 %
13. A1          71 %
14. A2          71 %
15. A14        71 %
16. M27       70 %
17. M1         69 %
18. A47        69 %
19. A5          69 %
20. M11       68 %
21. M25       67 
22. A34        64 %
23. A3          64 %
24. A27        63 %
25. M62       60 %
26. M42       56 %
27. A12        55 %