Highways Agency

Area 7 is one of 14 Highways Agency areas in England. It stretches from the Yorkshire border in the north to Peterborough in the South, from Derby in the west to Lincoln in the east, and includes routes such as the M1, A1, A38, A46 and A52.

The area is managed by a dedicated Highways Agency team, who are supported by a service provider, AMScott.

We recently conducted a survey of 399 people living close to and who had travelled on the Highways Agency’s Area 7 network. It was the first time the Highways Agency had conducted such a major survey on an individual area. The first results have now been published.  They show: 

• Just 21 per cent of those who say they live near to a motorway or trunk road found something about the network that bothered them. The biggest complaint was noise (cited by 33 people out of 68) followed by congestion (16 people).
• Most people questioned thought road surfaces were good (68 per cent).
• More than a fifth (22 per cent) had suffered delays of up to ten minutes on the Area 7 network. Another 22 per cent had suffered delays of 10-30 minutes, and six per cent had faced delays of more than 30 minutes.
• Congestion hot-spots included the M1’s Junction 28 (where it meets the A38), Bardill’s, Bramcote and Priory islands on the A52 to the west of Nottingham, and the A38’s Markeaton island, Derby. There have been major roadworks at J28, Bramcote and Priory islands during 2006.
• The vast majority (80 per cent) thought it was important to find out about conditions on a motorway before joining it, with radio being the most popular means of finding out if the route is clear or congested.

Paul Cockell, Area Performance Manager for the Highways Agency, said: “I welcome this survey. The Highways Agency is keen to find out what road users and those living close to our network think about the way we operate the network.

“We are already addressing many of the issues identified by our customers in this survey. For example, cutting congestion is at the top of our agenda. We have recently begun work to improve six major junctions on the A1, we will start widening the M1 next summer, and we are in the advanced stage of preparation to improve traffic flows at Bardill’s and Markeaton islands.

“A few years ago we changed the specification of the material we use for resurfacing roads. One of the most noticeable changes is that the new material produces significantly less road noise.

“We will be looking at detailed comments about the condition of road surface and litter with our contractors and local authority colleagues to see what room there is for improvement.

“We are putting a great deal of effort into the ways we get information to the road user. For example, anyone can subscribe to receive email alerts about a wide range of schemes on our network, free of charge. To take advantage of this, go to any Area 7 scheme homepage and follow the link to 'Get email alerts when we publish new information'.

“This survey helps us work out where we need to improve.”

The survey was conducted by MVA Consultancy on behalf of the Highways Agency. Approximately 66 people were interviewed every month between April and September 2006. Results of further surveys will be published every six months.  Download the full report (700KB PDF).