Best locations for finding an open road revealed

North Wales has also been highlighted for having some of the best driving roads in Europe.

Powys has 40.5 metres of road per person which is more than any other local authority area in mainland Britain, analysis of Department for Transport data by the PA news agency revealed.

Its 132,400 inhabitants share nearly 5.4 million metres of road, covering destinations such as the Brecon Beacons and market town Machynlleth.

The roads are currently even quieter than normal due to Wales being in a coronavirus lockdown.

Gwynedd and Anglesey also appear high in the list, with 20.1 and 17.3 metres of road per person.

The other counties in North Wales have less open roads, with Denbighshire having 15m per person, Conwy 13.1, Wrexham 8.9, and Flintshire 8.1.

But they fare much better than areas of London which only have about 1m of open road per person.

Highland is the area with the second most length of road per person, followed by Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, and Ceredigion.

They all have more than 30 metres.

AA president Edmund King said: “This analysis shows why the producers of car programmes such as Top Gear or The Grand Tour, and car reviewers from motoring magazines, seek out the beautiful and quiet roads of Mid and North Wales or the Highlands and islands of Scotland.

“Drivers are often more likely to come across sheep than other vehicles on these stunning roads as the metres of road per population are at the highest.”

North Wales was praised for having “some of the best driving roads in Europe” by Top Gear host Chris Harris in the latest episode of the BBC One show.

“It’s a playground for cars,” he added.

Herefordshire is the highest-ranked English entry on the list with 17.4 metres, down from 18.3 metres in 2009.

Around 90% of local authority areas have seen a reduction in road length per person over the past decade.

This is because populations have increased at 10 times the rate of road building.

The figures are based on road lengths and populations recorded in 2019 in local authority areas in mainland Britain.

It excludes authorities consisting only of islands, such as the Scottish areas of Eilean Siar (47.8 metres per person), Orkney Islands (47.6 metres per person) and Shetland Islands (45.2 metres per person).

The analysis does not include the impact of people driving in areas they do not live in, such as commuters, leisure visitors and delivery drivers.

The 28 areas with the lowest amount of road per person are in London.

This is led by Tower Hamlets, which is the only location with less than one metre.

Data from traffic information supplier Inrix shows that London is the eighth most congested city in the world, with drivers spending an average of 149 hours stuck in traffic last year.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “For most of us the joys of a traffic-free, open road are a far cry from our everyday driving experience, though these figures show there are still places where driving might be more of a pleasure than a chore.”

Here is a full breakdown of the figures, with local authority area and metres of road per person:

• Eilean Siar 47.8

• Orkney Islands 47.6

• Shetland Islands 45.2
• Powys 40.5
• Highland 33.9
• Argyll and Bute 31.7
• Dumfries and Galloway 31.5
• Ceredigion 31.2
• Scottish Borders 28.4
• Aberdeenshire 24.0
• Pembrokeshire 20.7
• Gwynedd 20.1
• Perth and Kinross 19.4
• Carmarthenshire 18.9
• Moray 18.5
• Herefordshire 17.4
• Isle of Anglesey 17.3
• Monmouthshire 17.2
• Angus 16.6
• Devon 16.2
• Cumbria 16.1
• Shropshire 16.1
• Northumberland 16.0
• Isles of Scilly 15.6
• Denbighshire 15.0
• North Yorkshire 14.9
• Conwy 14.1
• Rutland 14.0
• Cornwall 13.0
• Stirling 12.7
• Somerset 12.1
• Lincolnshire 11.8
• South Ayrshire 11.7
• Norfolk 11.0
• East Ayrshire 10.9
• Dorset 10.8
• East Lothian 10.4
• East Riding of Yorkshire 10.2
• Wiltshire 9.6
• Suffolk 9.2
• West Berkshire 8.9
• Wrexham 8.9
• Gloucestershire 8.8
• North Ayrshire 8.6
• Flintshire 8.2
• North Lincolnshire 8.2
• South Lanarkshire 7.9
• Cheshire East 7.6
• Fife 7.5
• Midlothian 7.5
• Cambridgeshire 7.3
• Warwickshire 7.3
• Staffordshire 7.2
• Worcestershire 7.2
• Cheshire West and Chester 7.1
• County Durham 7.0
• Derbyshire 7.0
• The Vale of Glamorgan 7.0
• Oxfordshire 6.9
• Leicestershire 6.6
• Hampshire 6.5
• West Lothian 6.4
• Isle of Wight 6.2
• Northamptonshire 6.2
• Neath Port Talbot 6.1
• East Sussex 6.1
• Buckinghamshire 6.1
• Clackmannanshire 6.1
• Falkirk 6.0
• Blaenau Gwent 6.0
• Telford and Wrekin 5.9
• Nottinghamshire 5.9
• Kent 5.8
• Lancashire 5.8
• Merthyr Tydfil 5.8
• City of London 5.7
• Caerphilly 5.6
• South Gloucestershire 5.6
• Bath and North East Somerset 5.6
• Essex 5.6
• Bridgend 5.5
• North Somerset 5.5
• East Renfrewshire 5.4
• Calderdale 5.4
• Renfrewshire 5.4
• Central Bedfordshire 5.4
• Inverclyde 5.4
• Bedford 5.4
• Doncaster 5.4
• Darlington 5.2
• Torfaen 5.1
• North Lanarkshire 5.1
• East Dunbartonshire 5.1
• Rhondda Cynon Taf 5.0
• Redcar and Cleveland 5.0
• West Sussex 5.0
• Barnsley 4.9
• Newport 4.9
• Milton Keynes 4.8
• Peterborough 4.8
• Warrington 4.8
• West Dunbartonshire 4.7
• Swansea 4.7
• Surrey 4.6
• Rotherham 4.6
• Halton 4.6
• Wokingham 4.6
• Aberdeen City 4.6
• Wakefield 4.5
• Windsor and Maidenhead 4.5
• Stockton-on-Tees 4.5
• Gateshead 4.5
• Hartlepool 4.4
• Kirklees 4.3
• Hertfordshire 4.2
• Sunderland 4.2
• Swindon 4.2
• North East Lincolnshire 4.1
• St Helens 4.1
• Dundee City 4.1
• Solihull 4.1
• Knowsley 3.9
• Torbay 3.9
• North Tyneside 3.9
• Bracknell Forest 3.9
• York 3.9
• Leeds 3.8
• Middlesbrough 3.8
• South Tyneside 3.8
• Wirral 3.8
• Blackburn with Darwen 3.7
• Bradford 3.6
• Sefton 3.6
• Bury 3.6
• Rochdale 3.6
• Wigan 3.5
• Oldham 3.5
• Bolton 3.5
• Thurrock 3.4
• Stoke-on-Trent 3.4
• Stockport 3.4
• Tameside 3.4
• Trafford 3.4
• Sheffield 3.4
• Blackpool 3.3
• Newcastle upon Tyne 3.3
• Dudley 3.2
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 3.2
• Plymouth 3.2
• Salford 3.1
• Medway 3.1
• Walsall 3.1
• Derby 3.0
• Glasgow City 3.0
• Cardiff 3.0
• Kingston upon Hull 3.0
• Edinburgh 3.0
• Wolverhampton 3.0
• Liverpool 2.9
• Sandwell 2.8
• Bromley 2.7
• Havering 2.5
• Manchester 2.5
• Bristol 2.5
• Southend-on-Sea 2.5
• Hillingdon 2.5
• Reading 2.5
• Nottingham 2.4
• Coventry 2.4
• Leicester 2.3
• Southampton 2.3
• Birmingham 2.3
• Bexley 2.2
• Luton 2.2
• Slough 2.2
• Portsmouth 2.1
• Brighton and Hove 2.1
• Sutton 2.1
• Richmond upon Thames 2.1
• Croydon 2.0
• Kingston upon Thames 1.9
• Barnet 1.9
• Enfield 1.9
• Harrow 1.9
• Hounslow 1.9
• Merton 1.8
• Greenwich 1.8
• Redbridge 1.7
• Ealing 1.7
• Barking and Dagenham 1.6
• Waltham Forest 1.5
• Brent 1.5
• Lewisham 1.5
• Haringey 1.3
• Kensington and Chelsea 1.3
• Wandsworth 1.3
• Westminster 1.3
• Southwark 1.2
• Newham 1.2
• Hammersmith and Fulham 1.2
• Lambeth 1.2
• Camden 1.0
• Islington 1.0
• Hackney 1.0
• Tower Hamlets 0.9