While we all recognise that they're essential to keep our roads in good condition and keep the nation moving, there's nothing more frustrating than being stuck in an endless stream of taillights because of roadworks.
It's estimated that there are around 2.5 million roadworks carried out each year in England alone, causing hours of delays, which in turn are estimated to cost the economy £4 billion a year, but where are the UK's roadwork capitals, where you're most likely to be stuck in congestion?
We submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to councils around the country to find out which have had the most roadworks in the last three years.
Excluding London, the city which has seen the most roadworks in the last three years was Liverpool, with 125,398. The number of works in the city has steadily risen in the last three years, where a major overhaul to the city’s roads has been ongoing since 2018.
This was followed by Belfast with 78,628 and Bristol with 75,855, where significant works in the Temple Meads area lasted from 2017 to 2019.
When looking specifically at London, it was Bromley which had the highest reported number of roadworks over a three-year period, with 100,210, which was more than most individual cities.
This was followed by Westminster, which is one the busiest boroughs in the capital, with 43,247 reported roadworks, and Merton, with 41,880.
We submitted Freedom of Information requests to the local councils of the UK’s most populated towns and cities, as well as each London borough, asking them to provide the number of roadworks carried out in the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years.
Any authorities which had not responded as of 08/04/2020 were excluded.
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