Traffic jams will cost drivers £2bn over 10 years
TIME wasted in Birmingham traffic jams will cost motorists £2 billion by 2025, according to a new study.
Transport information company Inrix identified more than 20,000 congestion pinch points in 21 cities across the country.
Analysis of the average duration, length and frequency of the holdups in September found that the impact of traffic hotspots will cost Birmingham drivers £2 billion over the next decade – with the worst pinch-point being the northbound junction of the A38 Aston Exporessway with the M6 at Spaghetti Junction.
But that figure is dwarfed by the cost to London drivers, estimated to be £42 billion.
The report said the capital’s worst section of road for congestion was the M25 northbound between junctions 15 and 16, near Heathrow Airport.
The total £62 billion cost to drivers of hours wasted in queues was calculated using value of travel time figures from a Department for Transport-commissioned report.
This was more than any other country in Europe, with Germany the next closest at £42 billion and Italy third at £19 billion.
In last week’s Autumn Statement, the Government pledged to spend £220 million to tackle congestion on England’s motorways and major A roads.
Inrix’s chief economist Graham Cookson said identifying where delays were having the biggest impact could allow for the most efficient use of investment.
He said: “Let’s make sure we focus spending on those worst-hit hotspots because, given the amount of money, we want to get the most benefit out of it.” The 10 UK cities with the worst impact from traffic jams, according to Inrix (cost of congestion by 2025 in brackets followed by worst hotspot): 1) (£42 billion) – M25 northbound between junctions 15 and 16 Edinburgh 2) (£2.8 billion) – A720 westbound Edinburgh Bypass at Dreghorn Barracks Glasgow 3) bound junction of the A8 Glasgow and Edinburgh Road with the M8 Birmingham 4) Northbound junction of the A38 (M) with the M6 Manchester 5) (£2.3 billion) – East- northbound at junction 1 for the A6 Stockport Bristol 6) southbound at junction 20 for Clevedon Leeds 7) (£1.6 billion) – M5 (£1.5 billion) – West- bound M62 junction 26 with M606 junction 1 Cardiff 8) (£2 billion) – (£1.9 billion) – M60 (£1.1 billion) – A48 westbound at Riverside Park Bradford 9) London (£1.1 billion) – From the A650 in the city centre to the A6038 Otley Road Belfast 10) eastbound at the junction with the M2 and M3 (£797 million) – A12