Report reveals worst traffic jam roads
● Glasgow has slowest routes ● Aberdeen worse than London
The true state of traffic congestion on Scotland’s roads has been laid bare in a new survey naming and shaming the country’s worst bottlenecks.
Unsurprisingly to many motorists, Glasgow can lay claim to all three of the top congested roads according to the detailed nationwide report by traffic experts INRIX.
But other cities don’t fare much better with Aberdeen reporting worse peak time congestion than even London.
It may be a grand Victorian thoroughfare to some, but for drivers gridlocked as they struggle to head home it was Scotland’s most congested road last year.
The A82 Great Western Road in Glasgow is named today as the worst road corridor in Scotland, where traffic averaged less than 13mph between St George’s Cross in the city centre and Anniesland.
The finding by analysts INRIX comes in a report which also revealed that Aberdeen has worse traffic congestion than London at peak hours.
The Granite City was rated as the overall third most congested in the UK after London and Manchester, with Edinburgh fifth and Glasgow 11th.
However, Glasgow also has Scotland’s second and third most congested roads.
Second was the M74 northbound between junctions three and eight in the morning peak, where motorists averaged 34mph – perhaps a reflection of the major roadworks on the motorway.
In third place was the M8 westbound through Glasgow city centre between junctions 13 and 22, where traffic only averaged 29mph in the afternoon rush hour.
Edinburgh’s worst tailback was on the A1 and A199, from the A1 junction with the city bypass to Baltic Street in Leith, where vehicles averaged 25mph in the morning peak.
Drivers averaged 16mph in the afternoon peak on the A8 westbound between Haymarket and the Drumbrae roundabout in Corstorphine.
In Aberdeen, where the opening of the western peripheral route (AWPR) next winter is hoped to significantly cut congestion, drivers heading to work were gridlocked for a quarter of the time and moved at an average of just 5.5mph. That cost them £1,300 each in lost time last year, compared to £1,009 in Edinburgh and £766 in Glasgow.
INRIX, which analyses GPS data from vehicles, said congestion levels had improved in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow since 2015 but detailed comparisons were not available because of changes to measurements.
It said congestion cost the three cities a combined £582 million in 2016, and an estimated £2.4 billion across Scotland.
Chief economist Dr Graham Cookson said: “Aberdeen has incredibly high congestion at peak hours. It’s a very dense city with many people commuting from rural areas.”
Neil Greig, the policy director of the IAM Roadsmart motoring group, said public transport must become a more attractive alternative to drivers sitting in queues.
He said: “Nearly all of the congestion black spots have substantial public transport alternatives available, but they have clearly failed to attract car users out of their vehicles.
“For as long as our buses and trains continue to be overcrowded, unreliable, uncomfortable, slow and expensive, drivers will be tempted to sit tight in the daily grind. The long-awaited AWPR will open soon, just when the economy in Aberdeen is taking such a hit from the contraction of the oil industry.
“Maybe next year we will find Aberdeen is one of the least congested cities, but that will be very little consolation to those who can no longer afford to drive.”
There are few more frustrating components of modern life than the traffic jam, sitting there going nowhere is the very definition of a waste of time.
Some might dismiss it as a typical “first world problem” but there is a very serious underlying point. Research from traffic information company Inrix has found that drivers are spending an average of 32 hours a year stuck in jams, but more importantly have put a cost on it of £31 billion last year, at an average of £968 per driver.
There are some interesting conclusions that can be drawn from the findings. The report shows that generally the congestion is worse in the UK’S most populous cities, but Glasgow, the UK’S fourth biggest city by population, does not make the top ten.
The report shows that Aberdeen eclipsed London for congestion at peak periods last year as the hardest city to get into or out of. Coming number three on the list, and yet being number 47 on the list of UK cities by population, it would seem to buck the general trend, but perhaps the survey has not taken in to account the work building the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and the disruption that has been causing and will continue to cause for some months to come.
Perhaps the greatest frustration of traffic jams is the knowledge that at certain times, on certain roads, you are certain to hit a traffic jam. It is all down to sheer volume of vehicles and the road structure not being capable of dealing with it.
While it is right to encourage alternative greener forms of transport, the reality is that we do have to have roads that are fit for purpose, because when they are not it comes at a cost to the environment and to the economy.