Whether you’ve been driving for a long time, use public transport, or still taking driving lessons, we’ve all encountered roadworks at some point in our lives. As frustrating as they can be, roadworks can be crucial in maintaining and improving our lives on the road, even if it means you taking a detour on your commute to work!
That’s why, here at Bill Plant Driving School, we wanted to find out which places in the UK have carried out the most roadworks. We’ve sent out a freedom of information (FOI) request to local authorities around the UK, to reveal the roadwork capital of the UK.
The UK Places with the Most Roadworks
We sent an FOI request out to local authorities in the UK, to find out which places saw the most road works during the 2021-22 financial year.
- Essex County Council – 77,423 roadworks
Essex County Council is crowned the UK’s roadwork capital with 77,423 roadworks during the 2021-22 financial year. Of this huge number, almost 63,000 were undertaken by Statutory Undertakers, which includes external companies such as broadband companies.
- Staffordshire County Council – 52,871 roadworks
Staffordshire County Council took second place with almost 53,000 roadworks during the 2021-22 financial year. Although Staffordshire’s total is huge, it’s almost 25,000 lower than first place, putting Essex’s total into perspective.
- Cardiff Council – 43,252 roadworks
Completing our top three is Cardiff Council with just over 43,000 roadworks during the 2021- 22 financial year. The majority of Cardiff’s total came from Welsh Water who carried out 17,535 jobs during this time period. In fact, just over 1,200 roadworks were independently carried out by the council.
Methodology
We sent out an FOI request to 130 local authorities asking for the total number of road and street works carried out during the 2021-22 financial year (April 2021 – March 2022). We asked for road and street works carried out by the council themselves as well as third parties and statutory undertakers.
Not all local authorities got back to us, and some local authorities either did not have the information or refused due to time constraints.
Data correct as of 20/10/2022
