Black Country roads among UK's most congested

Drivers spend 32 hours a year sitting in traffic on Dudley Port in Tipton and 30 on Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, according to new research.

The roads were named as the 12th and 15th most congested in the country respectively and the worst in the Midlands.

The research was compiled by transport data firm Inrix, which looked at how much time motorists were wasting sitting in jams. There are also concerns about the amount of emissions being released by vehicles either stuck at a standstill or starting and stopping frequently.

Dudley Port is at a key intersection of the Black Country, connecting busy routes Birmingham New Road and the Black Country Route, and is used by thousands of vehicles every day.

Birmingham Road, towards M5 Junction 1 and near West Brom's Hawthorns ground is also heavily congested on most days.

They were the only roads from the Black Country to make the top 15 on the list of the most congested roads. The A34 Stratford Road in Birmingham also featured.

The UK's most congested road was revealed to be the A406 North Circular Road in London, where drivers lose 61 hours a year.

The Express & Star revealed last week that bus lanes are to be added on more than 60 miles of the Black Country road network in a bid to boost health and cut congestion and emissions.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: "Last year UK drivers told us that they are actually becoming more, not less reliant on using their cars - with struggling public transport cited as one of the reasons.

"This is a serious concern when you consider the limited physical space in our cities and the growing pressures to move large numbers of people around to get to their places of work and leisure."

Inrix transportation analyst Trevor Reed said: "Congestion costs Brits billions of pounds each year.

"Unaddressed, it will continue to have serious consequences for national and local economies, businesses and citizens in the years to come."