A12 named worst major road in England

The A12 has been named the worst major route in England, a watchdog has revealed.

The route, which runs from Lowestoft to London, received the lowest overall satisfaction rating from road users – 55 per cent – during a survey conducted by Transport Focus.

This was a decrease from the 61 per cent it scored last year and came six places above the infamous M25, which had an overall score of 64 per cent.

Meanwhile, the A14 ranked the 15th place, with 71 per cent of users reporting satisfaction with their journey.

The A12 is plagued with poor road quality, maintenance issues and roadworks, respondents said, mirroring the national picture, with 49 per cent of people quizzed believing roadworks on Britain’s routes were poorly managed.

Transport Focus said the ‘stark issue’ with the A12 was its road surfacing, scoring 34 per cent – 18 points lower than the runner-up, the A47 with 52 per cent.

Journey time and road markings also left motorists wanting more, sitting at 56 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively

In all, 9,166 people were quizzed on 27 roads, with the A12 coming in last place. The M42 – the worst-rated motorway – came in 26th place.

The A19 came in first place, with 85 per cent overall satisfaction, the report said, followed by the M40, with 79 per cent.

When one respondent was quizzed on the state of the A12, they said: “They have roadworks on there. They have been there for over a year now and don’t seem to be doing much.”

Looking to the national picture, 71 per cent of road users felt satisfied with their journey, down from 73 per cent last year.

The South West region was the highest rated part of the country overall, while the M25 area was the worst.

Alex Robertson, chief executive of Transport Focus, said drivers told the watchdog that maintenance of major roads and motorways was more important to them than building new routes.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

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