The statistics released on 04/02/2021 shows that the road network in Great Britain has increased by 2,600 miles since 2010 and there is now 247,500 miles of road in Great Britain. The statistics cover 'route miles' and not 'lane miles' and so does not account for any additional capacity that has been added on existing routes. By length, the majority of the roads are managed by local authorities.

Source: www.gov.uk

Traffic on the different types of roads is unevenly distributed. In 2019, where the latest road traffic estimates are available from, shows that 62% of motor vehicle miles travelled were on motorways and 'A' roads despite these only making up 13% of the total road network by length. The Strategic Road Network, managed by Highways England, is said to carry around a third of all motor traffic.

In CIHT's Improving Local Highways we make the case for the importance of maintaining all locally managed roads which carry around two-thirds of all motor traffic and is the place where the majority of active travel and public transport takes place. In that publication CIHT proposes four key recommendations to the UK government that will create a vision, funding and a focus on the Local Highway Network over the next ten years.

To see the full release please see here.