A303 name 'best road for driver satisfaction - followed by M5!'
It might not feel like it when you're stuck in traffic, but it seems the A303 is actually England's best road!
Last updated 14th Sep 2023
The A303 has been ranked the best in England, when it comes to driver satisfaction.
The West Country route has come top out of all roads managed by National Highways, whilst the M5, which runs through Devon and Somerset and Gloucestershire, is best motorway according to independent watchdog Transport Focus.
More than 9,000 road users took part in the watchdog’s survey about their last journey on a motorway or major ‘A’ road managed by National Highways.
The Strategic Roads User Survey helps National Highways develop initiatives and target investments that will improve the driver experience.
The A303 has an 'overall satisfaction percentage of 85 per cent', with the M5 at 82 per cent.
The A37 was lowest with 59 per cent.
The research found 'road users were most satisfied with the M5 due to the time their journey took, good traffic flow and the road not being too busy during their journey.
'Coming second was the M40 at 82 per cent* overall satisfaction, doing well again after being the most highly rated road last year (79 per cent).
'As for ‘A’ roads, the A303 has been rated the best road in England. The road which connects the M3 and the A30 from London to Devon and Cornwall had the highest overall satisfaction at 85 per cent'.
'The M6 was rated the least popular motorway with the lowest level of satisfaction (66 per cent). The A27 receives the lowest level of overall satisfaction (59 per cent), followed by the A12 (61 per cent)'.
'Journeys on smart motorways had lower levels of satisfaction with road users than those that did not include a smart section (smart 69 per cent; not smart 76 per cent)'.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus said: “England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads are at the heart of how many of us move around the country. It’s good to see the M5 and M40 perform well.
“As the so-called backbone of Britain, the M6 is a vital route which National Highways must continue to focus on delivering safe, smooth journeys. We’ll continue to keep pushing National Highways to improve these issues.”
Commenting on the M5 one driver said: “Clear road and signage was clear for roadworks that were taking place.”
Another for the M40 said: “Traffic not too heavy, road in good condition”
One driver using the M6 said: “Terrible tarmac conditions in places, matrix signs not up to date, unwarranted smart motorway speed limits.”
Another using the A12 said: “The state of the A12 road surface is terrible, added to that the on-going roadworks make it a fairly unpleasant journey.”