England’s best and worst motorways rated by drivers

Drivers have rated the M1 as England’s worst motorway in an annual survey from the independent watchdog, Transport Focus.

Just 57% of drivers said they were satisfied with their journey on the M1 – down from 69% in 2023/24.   

Motorists on the motorway, which connects London to Leeds, have faced miles of roadworks and 50mph average speed limits as extra smart motorway emergency areas were built.

One respondent travelling on the M1 complained of “miles of coned off road with little or no sign of actual work being done”.

Another said: “Roadworks and average speed checks. M1 is a very difficult road to plan time wise.”

The Transport Focus survey also reports a drop in overall satisfaction with England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads.

In its survey of 9,000 drivers, it found more than two-thirds (69%) of road users were satisfied with their journey on the strategic road network, which is managed by National Highways, a drop from 71% last year.

Analysis of the data shows a key reason for the decline in overall satisfaction across England is the roadworks required to install more than 150 new emergency areas on smart motorways, as part of National Highways’ National Emergency Area Retrofit (Near) programme.

National Highways completed the Near roadworks on time in March and Transport Focus says that there are promising early signs that satisfaction is recovering after completion of these safety improvements.

While road users recognise this work was needed to install more places to safely stop in an emergency, the survey findings show they have felt the impact of the roadworks.

Stretches of all-lane running smart motorways with roadworks showed a steep drop in overall satisfaction during the retrofit roadworks (from 61% in 2023/24 to 48% in 2024/25).

A number of drivers commented specifically on the management of the smart motorway emergency areas retrofit roadworks.

The main issues raised related to the works taking a long time to complete and affecting long stretches of road, not seeing work being done or that they didn’t actually know what was being done.

Transport Focus says that National Highways must consider how to consistently manage future roadworks to minimise the impact on road users.

Louise Collins, director at Transport Focus, said: “Long stretches of roadworks, sometimes one after another, and miles of cones have had a significant impact on road user satisfaction with England’s motorways, with a disappointing downward trend over the past couple of years.

“While roadworks are necessary to help maintain roads and drive improvements in user experience, the decrease in road user satisfaction reinforces the importance of National Highways learning the lessons from the smart motorway emergency area retrofit programme.”

Best and worst motorways and ‘A’ roads

The M40, which runs between London and Birmingham, retains its place as the highest rated motorway with three-quarters (75%) of drivers satisfied.

The A30 from Exeter to Penzance was rated the best ‘A’ road in England with the highest overall satisfaction at 85%.

The A47 received the lowest overall satisfaction rating from road users. A common cause of complaint was the surface of the road.

Collins said: “We’ll be working with National Highways to help them use these survey findings as they plan future roadworks to make sure the impact on users is minimised.”