They say patience is a virtue, but that can really be put to the test when at a standstill in traffic. And a lot of anger can be directed towards one set of traffic fuellers: the roadworks. It can be easy to convince yourself of the narrative that ‘there is ALWAYS roadworks going on in my area’, but how true can that actually be? Let’s see – we now how have some numbers.
A report into roadworks by online tyre gurus Blackcirclesby way of Freedom of Information requests to local authorities, has gathered the details on which areas had the most works going on their roads in 2024, with the duration of each project and number of road closures included.
Which area of London has the most roadworks?
Blackcircles has listed numbers into two categories, so the definitive number depends on which measurement you go by. If we’re going by pure volume, Westminster City Council was the local authority with the most recorded number of roadworks, with 18,123 in 2024.
However, this actually places it second on the overall list when it comes to the number of roadworks per 10,000 people. City Of London Corporation might only have had 8,226 recorded roadworks, but this equates to 6,111 per 10,000 people, which puts it far above Westminster’s 857. This figure actually even makes City of London the local authority with the most roadworks per 10,000 people in the whole of the UK. coming in ahead of Liverpool, which has the highest figure outside of London with 631 per 10,000.
In the study, further information was also found, including the fact that Aberdeen had road closures that lasted the longest (93 days on average), and Birmingham had the most works (90 per 10,000 people) that resulted in closures.
London boroughs with the most roadworks per 10,000 people in 2024
- City of London Corporation – 6,111 (8,226 overall)
- Westminster City Council – 857 (18,123 overall)
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – 324 (4,783 overall)
- Southwark Borough Council – 283 (8,941 overall)
- Camden Borough Council – 279 (6,164 overall)
- Merton Borough Council – 245 (5,274 overall)
- Lewisham Borough Council – 222 (6,636 overall)
- Kingston Upon Thames Borough Council – 185 (3,161 overall)
- Ealing Borough Council – 183 (6,879 overall)
- Brent Borough Council – 173 (5,968 overall)
You can look at the results of the study in full by Blackcircles here.
