More than 100hrs a year lost in traffic jams

● Edinburgh confirmed as one of most congested cities with 10mph journeys

UK road commuters lost an average of 115 hours stuck in traffic last year as research reveals Edinburgh is one of the worst cities for hold-ups.

Traffic jams cost the country £6.9 billion and a typical driver £894, traffic analyst Inrix said.

London was found to be the most congested city, with 149 hours lost per driver during peak periods last year, with the UK capital ranked eighth in the world for traffic jams.

Edinburgh came in fourth spot on the rankings for the worst cities and top for Scotland, with 98 hours lost each year. Belfast was the UK’S second worst city for hold-ups at 112 hours a driver.

This was followed by Bristol (103 hours), Edinburgh and Manchester (92 hours).

London and Edinburgh tie for the title of the UK’S slowest city, with the average speed of the final mile of a journey just 10mph.

However, the Scottish Government is reviewing plans to ease congestion and tackle long delays at Sheriffhall roundabout on the outskirts of Edinburgh, as part of the budget deal that the SNP struck with the Greens.

A £120 million road flyover for bypass traffic had been proposed at the busy junction.

Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at Inrix, said London suffered from having “very little road space and a whole lot of demand”.

He said: “You have very severe congestion and a massive, relatively high-earning population.

“UK cities are quite a bit older and a lot denser than American cities. London is over 2,000 years old.

“When you develop around walking and horse and buggy and everything but cars, the urban environment does not handle [cars] all that well.”

Cardiff saw the biggest yearon-year growth in congestion – up 5 per cent to 87 hours.

Mr Reed said: “You can reach a tipping point with a city. You add just enough cars to make nothing work.

“Sometimes you add one or 2 per cent more cars and it causes a viscous cycle of congestion to set in.”

Nottingham’s congestion fell by 17 per cent to 78 hours, which was the biggest drop in the UK top ten.

The A404/A501 from Edgware

Road to Old Street in London is the UK’S most congested corridor, with commuters losing 44 hours last year.

Outside the capital, the A38 in Birmingham caused the biggest delays at 32 hours.

A poll published yesterday showed a majority of drivers wanted Chancellor Rishi Sunak to boost spending on the UK’S crumbling roads by ring-fencing revenue from fuel duty.

An RAC

poll

of

3,200 motorists indicated that 59 per cent wanted Mr Sunak to reinvest 2p from every litre of petrol and diesel sold, while keeping duty at existing levels.

Some 26 per cent of respondents said they would like to see fuel duty reduced, while just 10 per cent were in favour of an increase.

There has been speculation that Mr Sunak is set to end the decade-long freeze on fuel duty in Wednesday’s Budget.