The £320m congestion scheme that has made traffic worse!

A £320 MILLION project to tackle congestion has made traffic worse on dozens of major routes, Highways England has admitted.

The Government-backed firm responsible for the motorway and A-road network revealed roadworks at the worst traffic hotspots have often backfired.

Changes to the road layout which had eased congestion for rush-hour journeys often resulted in longer delays at other times.

Newly-installed traffic lights were the biggest cause of the extra hold-ups.

Nearly half of the 119 schemes with an objective to cut journey times failed to achieve that, a report showed. Overall, longer journey times during off-peak periods cost the economy £5.6 million in the first year, compared with shorter journeys at peak periods which had a benefit worth £5.1 million.

The five-year project was established in 2011 to ease congestion and help local growth. Since then traffic has surged to record levels, with delays on England’s motorways and major A-roads rising by almost 4 per cent last year.

A Highways England spokesman said: ‘Overall, these schemes were successful at tackling congestion at the busiest times.’