A19 between Doncaster and Newcastle voted best A road in the country
The 124 mile route has been backed by motorists in a Transport Focus survey
The A19 has been voted the best A road in England England in a new survey carried out by the group Transport Focus.
It looked at topics including journey times and roadworks, with 85% of drivers satisfied with the road.
The 124 mile route starts just north of Doncaster and runs roughly parallel to the A1 up to Newcastle.
The M62 in West Yorkshire was among the worst rated motorways in the country, second only to the M42 in Birmingham.
At the other end of the scale, England's most popular motorway was identified as the M40, which runs between London and Birmingham, earning a score of 79%.
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%.
Department for Transport figures published last week showed delays on National Highways' roads have reached record levels.
Average hold-ups were 11.0 seconds per vehicle per mile (spvpm) in the year to the end of June, which was the longest time in records dating back to March 2016, when the figure was 8.6spvpm.
Transport Focus noted that traffic levels on motorways and major A roads rose by 2.3% from 2022 to 2023, but remained 1.0% below pre-coronavirus levels.
It also said roadworks relating to the ongoing programme of retrofitting 150 additional emergency stopping areas on smart motorways is "a further challenge".
The watchdog's research suggested satisfaction with road surface quality has dropped from 73% to 68%.
Just 49% of respondents said they were satisfied with the management of roadworks, which is similar to last year.
A National Highways spokesperson said: "Maintaining and investing in our roads is a priority and our most recent assessment shows that over 96% of them are in good condition.
"We have a robust programme of improvements which will provide long term benefits for motorists, including shorter and more reliable journeys."
- Here are the top five ranked motorways (overall satisfaction score in brackets):
- M40 (79%)
- M4 (78%)
- M5 (77%)
- M56 (73%)
- M3 (73%)
- Here are the bottom five ranked motorways (overall satisfaction score in brackets):
- M42 (56%)
- M62 (60%)
- M25 (67%)
- M11 (68%)
- M1 (69%)