National statistics

Road lengths in Great Britain: 2022

Published 13 July 2023

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About this release

This annual release presents estimates for road lengths in Great Britain maintained at public expense.

These estimates are based on information from a range of sources, including Ordnance Survey and local authorities. The data relates to the length of roads as of April 2022. Detailed statistical tables can be accessed online via the road length statistical series.

To note, some of the figures in this release may not sum due to rounding.

Important note for users - Road length consultation (R199b)

In early 2023, the Department for Transport ran a ‘R199b’ consultation to validate road length estimates in England, with a focus on minor roads. This means that road lengths for minor roads from 2022 cannot be compared to data from previous years and users should be cautious when looking at minor road trends. Although road lengths for 2022 are relatively similar to previous years, users should be aware that any year on year changes are more likely to reflect methodological improvements or road reclassification rather than construction or demolition of roads.

R199b – Additional Information

Road length statistics are updated each year using data from Ordnance Survey. However, Ordnance Survey data does not always accurately reflect road classifications for minor roads and has not robustly enabled the statistics to distinguish between ‘C’ roads and ‘U’ roads. This means that in most years road length estimates are only provided as a combined estimate for ‘C’ and ‘U’ road length. To address this limitation, a road length consultation, known as the ‘R199b’, is run every 3 to 5 years.

This consultation asks all 152 Local Authorities in England to provide road length estimates, which the department then compares with Ordnance Survey data to provide the most accurate road length estimates possible. Improvements have been made to Ordnance Survey data in recent years, including road classifications, which we aim to use in place of the R199b going forwards.

Headline figures in this release

In 2022, the total length of roads in Great Britain was estimated to be 245,100 miles.

There were 31,900 miles of major road in Great Britain in 2022, consisting of:

  • 2,300 miles of motorway (99% trunk, 1% principal)
  • 29,600 miles of ‘A’ road (18% trunk, 82% principal)

There were 213,200 miles of minor road in Great Britain in 2022, consisting of:

  • 18,800 miles of ‘B’ road
  • 51,600 miles of ‘C’ road
  • 142,800 miles of ‘U’ road

Chart 1: Percentage of road length by road class in Great Britain 2022

Roads in Great Britain (see Infographic 1)

By length, most roads in Great Britain are managed locally (by a local highway authority or Transport for London). This includes all minor roads (‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘U’ roads), and some major roads (principal ‘A’ roads and motorways).

The rest of the major road network (trunk motorways and ‘A’ roads) is managed centrally by National Highways (formerly Highways England), Transport Scotland, and the Welsh Government. The trunk road network in England makes up the Strategic Road Network (SRN)

Motorways, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads are classified roads, and ‘U’ roads are unclassified. ‘U’ roads are made up of roads that have a variety of uses but they are typically residential streets or rural lanes.

For further information see the notes and definitions guidance.

Infographic 1: Graphical representation of road types and their management in Great Britain

In 2022, there were 245,100 miles of road in Great Britain. This was 1,800 more miles than in 2002 (a 0.7% increase).

Most of the 1,800-mile change seen over the last 20 years is due to the changes in minor road lengths. There were 1,000 more miles of minor road in Great Britain in 2022 than in 2002 (a 0.5% increase) almost entirely driven by an increase in ‘C’ and ‘U’ roads.

The rest of the increase in road length between 2002 and 2022 was accounted for by major roads in Great Britain (a 2.3% increase) with motorways contributing 200 miles and ‘A’ roads contributing 600 miles of that increase (see Chart 2). Whilst the overall length of ‘A’ roads increased by 600 miles between 2002 and 2022, the length of trunk ‘A’ roads decreased by 1,200 miles and the length of principal ‘A’ roads increased by 1,800 miles. This largely reflects the Government’s de-trunking programme where centrally-managed roads were transferred over to local authorities, with most transfers carried out between 2001 and 2003.

Impact of the R199b road length consultation

The R199b road length consultation has impacted road length estimates in England for 2022. The level of impact varies by local authority and has mostly affected minor roads. Two known changes that have likely impacted road length estimates in 2022 are: recent improvements to the digitised road networks held by local authorities, alongside the transfer of housing estate roads to management by a third party (un-adoption). Improvements have also been made to the accuracy of centrally-held road classifications, with reductions in ‘C’ road length in 2022 partly down to reclassification. This means that the change in road length between 2021 and 2022 is mostly as a result of this road length consultation.

Chart 2: Length of major trunk and principal roads by road type in Great Britain from 2002 to 2022

Road length by country

Of the 245,100 miles of road in Great Britain in 2022:

  • 187,200 miles (76%) of road were in England
  • 36,900 miles (15%) were in Scotland
  • 21,100 miles (9%) were in Wales.

Table 1 and Chart 3 below show the varying composition of each country’s road network by road type.

Table 1: Breakdown of road length (thousand miles) by country and road type in 2022

Trunk Major Roads Principal Major Roads All Major Roads ‘B’ Roads ‘C’ Roads ‘U’ Roads All Minor Roads Total Roads
England 4.6 17.9 22.4 12.4 39.7 112.6 164.7 187.2
Scotland 2.1 4.6 6.7 4.6 6.2 19.4 30.2 36.9
Wales 1.1 1.7 2.7 1.9 5.7 10.8 18.3 21.1
Great Britain 7.7 24.2 31.9 18.8 51.6 142.8 213.2 245.1

Chart 3: Proportion of road length by country and road type in 2022

In England, the SRN (all trunk motorways and trunk ‘A’ roads) was 4,600 miles long and made up 2.4% of the total length of road in England.

In comparison, trunk roads made up a slightly higher proportion of the total road network in both Scotland (5.8% of total road length) and Wales (5.0%). The composition of these trunk roads differed in each country, with 42% of trunk roads classified as motorways in England, compared to only 8.3% in Wales and 14% in Scotland.

In 2022, a higher proportion of the road network in Scotland consisted of major roads (18%) compared with Wales (13%) and England (12%). A greater proportion of ‘A’ roads were classified as principal in England (87%), compared to Scotland (71%) and Wales (63%), meaning that England had the highest level of locally-managed and lowest levels of centrally-managed ‘A’ roads.

Scotland and Wales estimates

The Scottish and Welsh Governments produce their own road length estimates. Road length estimates for Scotland and Wales are also produced by the department, using the same methodology and at the same point in time for the whole of Great Britain, to provide road length estimates for Great Britain on a consistent basis.

Road Length estimates produced by the devolved governments can be found here:

Scotland Road Lengths Statistics - Chapter 4 - Road Network, Transport Scotland

Wales Road Lengths Statistics

Rural and Urban Breakdowns

In 2022, most road length in Great Britain was rural, with:

  • 75% of ‘A’ roads
  • 80% of ‘B’ roads
  • 88% of ‘C’ roads
  • 46% of ‘U’ Roads being classed as rural

Just as the composition of the road network by road type varied between England, Scotland and Wales, so did the proportion of urban and rural road length. England had a lower proportion of minor roads classified as rural (57%) than Scotland (62%) or Wales (77%). England also had the lowest proportion of rural ‘A’ roads out of the three countries (see Chart 4).

Chart 4: Proportion of road length classified as urban and rural by road classification and country

Background Information

Rounding

Figures quoted in this publication are rounded to the nearest 100 miles. Raw differences and percentage changes are always calculated from unrounded numbers.

Traffic and road length in England

Vehicle activity is unevenly distributed across Great Britain’s road network.

In 2022, 65% of the motor vehicle miles travelled were on motorways and ‘A’ roads, despite comprising only 13% of the road network by length.

On an average day in 2021, 55 times more vehicles travelled along a typical stretch of motorway than a typical stretch of minor road (‘B’ roads, ‘C’ roads and unclassified roads).

More information can be found in the Road traffic estimates for Great Britain: 2022 publication.

Methodology changes

Ongoing improvements to the accuracy of data sources and methodology may account for some of the slight changes between years. Any changes seen when comparing previous figures to the 2022 road length estimates will be influenced by the R199b consultation, as explained above.

Further technical and methodological information

Updated urban and rural classification for Scottish roads

The 2022 road length estimates for Scotland have been calculated using the 2020 Urban/Rural classification (the latest version available). This update provides a more consistent definition of urban and rural roads across Great Britain. Data for 2020 and 2021 is based on the 2016 definition, and for years prior to 2020 figures are still based on the older classification (2013 to 2014 for Scotland).

The urban and rural classification of a road is based on the size of the population in the local area. This means that a change in the length of urban or rural roads in a local authority may reflect changes in local populations rather than the construction or demolition of roads.

National Statistics

National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance to ensure customer needs are met. Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in the pre-release access list

Further information about these statistics is available, including:

Future road length statistics publications

The department is continuing to assess the OS MasterMap Highways Network dataset to produce improved estimates of road length in future. The product is continuously being developed with Ordnance Survey (OS), GeoPlace and other stakeholders. If you have any questions, please email road length statistics.

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Contact details

Road length statistics

Email road.length@dft.gov.uk

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

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