The number of roadworks in Britain has more than doubled in the past two years – and frustrated drivers are more likely than ever to get stuck behind temporary traffic lights.
Exclusive data obtained by Sky News reveals there were 425,524 miles of roadworks across the UK last year. That’s enough to stretch around the world a whopping 17 times.
It marks a 110% increase compared to 2023, when there were 203,000 miles of lane closures.
Part of the reason for the surge is the 2019 pledge by then prime minister Boris Johnson to roll out full fibre broadband to every corner of the nation as part of his “levelling up” agenda.
A promise made by Boris Johnson has been partially blamed for the rise in roadworks. File pic: Reuters
Causeway Technologies infrastructure director Nick Smee told Sky News: “It’s absolutely true that the rollout of super-fast fibre has caused a huge spike because we all want those facilities.
“The problem is you can’t do it without digging up the roads.”
‘The rollout of super-fast fibre has caused a huge spike,’ Nick Smee says
The original deadline for Johnson’s ‘Project Gigabit’ was this year, but this has been delayed to 2032, meaning drivers could face at least another six years of disruptions.
Meanwhile, the government is hoping another 100,000 public electric vehicle charging points will be installed by the end of the decade, which will inevitably lead to more asphalt being ripped up for the cables to be laid.
Roadworks are now a regular occurrence in large parts of the country, with emergency repairs often needed for leaking Victorian water pipes and other utilities.
In some cases, the same streets are repeatedly dug up in quick succession, leading to misery for motorists and an increased risk of potholes.
Drivers in London trundled through 490,893 roadworks in 2024, the highest number nationwide, averaging more than 1,300 sites across the capital every day.
Kent recorded 134,430 projects, and Surrey had 132,291. Essex and Hampshire complete the list of the top five roadwork hotspots.
Heavy machinery carrying out roadworks in London
In January 2024, the then Conservative government said it would crack down on disruptive street works.
The Labour government stood by the pledge and said it would start charging firms that unnecessarily leave roads closed over weekends, which hadn’t previously been possible.
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Officials also planned to double fines for delayed roadworks by this summer. However, the Department for Transport has now told Sky News that won’t happen until next year at the earliest “due to other high priority legislative work pushing it back”.
Clive Bairsto, chief executive of the trade association Street Works UK, said: “If you overfine people, the industry will be forced to use firms of less integrity and you’ll end up with the poor performers being used to do jobs rather than the good performers, which is what we want to encourage.”
