Revealed: the slowest motorways in England

Perhaps predictably, the Dartford Crossing has been revealed as the slowest section of motorway in England.

There’s also a degree of inevitably about the fact that 11 of the 50 slowest sections of motorway are on the M25.

With average speeds of 24.6mph and 25.1mph, two sections of the M25 by the Dartford Crossing are England’s slowest. There were 57.8 million crossings made in 2018/19 – the highest since the Dart Charge was introduced in 2014.

The M25, M4 and M5 motorways dominate the list of slowest motorways. Eight of the slowest stretches of motorway are located on the M5, which will make for grim reading for the tourists spending their summer holiday in the South West.

Overall, the South East, West Midlands and North West are home to the slowest motorways.

It’s not unusual

Dan Hutson, head of motor insurance at Comparethemarket.com, the company behind the research, said: “Sitting in traffic on the motorway isn’t unusual.

“And our research reveals it’s the norm in many areas to be crawling along at speeds 30mph or 40mph below the speed limit.

“Some of the slowest sections of motorway are near major locations or junctions. For example, ‘Thorney Exchange’, right next to Heathrow Airport, is the twelfth slowest stretch and one of the busiest junctions in the country.

“Our research also shockingly reveals that there are 11 stretches of motorway across England which have an average speed of less than 30mph. What is also worrying is that our data reveals the speed of traffic at all times of the day, so during rush hour the average speeds are likely to be much lower.”

Top 10 slowest sections of motorway

1. Dartford Crossing (northbound near Littlebrook): 24.6mph
2. Dartford Crossing (northbound between Princes Road and Littlebrook): 25.1mpg
3. M67 (westbound between Ashton Road and Denton): 26mph
4. M67 (westbound between Denton and A57): 26.1mph
5. M5 (northbound near Oldbury): 28.3mph
6. M4 (westbound near Chiswick): 28.6mph
7. M4 (westbound between Chiswick and Brentford): 28.7mph
8. M4 (westbound near Brentford): 28.7mph
9. M5 (northbound between Quinton and Olbury): 29.1mph
10. M5 (southbound near West Bromwich): 29.5mph

Click here for tips on how to find the latest traffic information to avoid getting stuck in a delay. The complete list of slowest motorways can be found here.

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