New study reveals the most congested roads to avoid this Christmas

HGV drivers hoping to avoid congested roads over the festive period should give the A34 in Hampshire a miss between the A33 and M3/A272, which has the highest average delays in the UK, according to research by HGV recruitment and training specialists Driver Hire.

The study, which has analysed data from the Office of National Statistics, shows that this particular stretch of road recorded a delay of 70.675 seconds per car per mile on average by the end of the year, meaning it is likely to be much worse in the busy holiday period.

Coming a close second is the M4 westbound within Junction 1 near Hounslow, recording an average delay of 70.075 seconds, followed by the nearby M4 westbound within Junction 2, which has recorded an average delay of 69.95 seconds per car mile.

The research looked at road congestion data from 2017-2020 to reveal which of the UK’s major routes typically see drivers spending the most time stuck in delays. Driver Hire has also created an interactive map for drivers to check, as part of the research.

The analysis also used One Network - which monitors, communicates and analyses traffic delays - to look at planned road works between now and the end of the year around the most congested areas, to see which roads could potentially face more delays than they do on average.

Richard Owen-Hughes, Driver Hire’s group marketing director, said: “Over nearly 40 years in the industry we’ve learned that the Christmas period is always the busiest period of the year for logistics.

“This year the economy is booming, and it looks more likely that we’ll be able to drive home to spend time with friends and family this Christmas. So we wanted to see which roads typically face the most congestion and are best avoided where possible.

“It’s maybe not surprising to see where some of the hotspots are – around London, the South Coast, the West Midlands and in the Northwest. We are sure people living in these areas are more than familiar with slow journeys on these roads! Still, we hope people find this research useful in planning their journeys this festive season.