Scottish Transport Statistics No 33 2014 Edition

Chapter 4: Road Network

  • Public road lengths by Local Authority, class, type and speed limit
  • Amount of trunk road constructed/resurfaced
  • Residual life of the trunk road network

Chapter 4: Road Network

Chapter 4: Road Network

ROAD NETWORK

1. Introduction

1.1 This chapter provides information about public road lengths by local authority, road class, type and speed limit. It also includes statistics on the amount of trunk road constructed/re-surfaced and information on the residual life of the trunk road network.

1.2. Unusual year to year changes in the reported road lengths may be due to the gradual introduction of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to calculate road lengths by the data providers- see Notes and Definitions section, page 225.

Key Points

  • Scotland has 55,961 km of road network
  • Six per cent is trunk road (1% is motorway)
  • Scotland has 10.5 km of road per 1,000 people compared to 6.4 km in GB.

2. Main Points

Road length

2.1 There were 55,961 kilometres of public road in Scotland at 31 March 2014. The trunk road network accounted for 6% of the total. Other (non-trunk) A roads represented 13% of the total.  Minor roads (B and C roads, and unclassified roads) accounted for the remaining 80% of roads.  (Table 4.1)

2.2 The motorway network increased by 1% between April 2013 and April 2014.  (Table 4.1)

2.3 Over a quarter of the total trunk road network, and about one-seventh of the Scottish road network, is within the area of the Highland Council.  Around 10% of the Scottish road network is within the Aberdeenshire Council area and a further 8% is within the Dumfries and Galloway Council area.  These three Local Authorities account for almost a third of Scotland's road network.  (Table 4.2)

Road Maintenance

2.4 Overall there was an increase of 9% in the amount of trunk road that was newly constructed, reconstructed, strengthened or surface dressed in 2013-14 compared to the previous year. (Table 4.3)

2.5 In 2013-14, 23.4% of the motorway network, 15.0% of the dual carriageway and 10.3% of the single carriageway trunk road network required close monitoring of the state of the road surface.  (Table 4.5 (b))

2.6 In 2013-14 the National Road Condition Indicator (RCI) showed 29% of the local authority A road network may, following more detailed examination, require some kind of maintenance (see the Notes and Definitions section, page 225). For the whole of the local authority network (all road categories), about 37% may similarly require some kind of maintenance. (Table 4.6)

Table 4.1 Public road lengths by class, type and speed limit 1,2
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Trunk roads 3, 6
Motorways Kilometres
Excluding slip roads 371 371 377 392 392 392 390 389 397 422 426
Including slip roads 519 519 525 546 547 547 546 544 557 599 596
A roads
Dual carriageway 503 505 524 531 521 521 523 523 524 517 518
Single carriageway 2,363 2,357 2,351 2,330 2,323 2,323 2,332 2,327 2,324 2,319 2,315
Other inc slips/roundabout 100 101 105 111 114 114 119 123 125 126 122
Total 2,966 2,963 2,980 2,972 2,958 2,958 2,974 2,974 2,973 2,962 2,954
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 236 236 238 232 229 229 226 233 234 231 231
over 40 mph 2,730 2,727 2,742 2,740 2,730 2,730 2,748 2,740 2,738 2,730 2,723
All trunk roads 3,4 3,485 3,482 3,505 3,518 3,505 3,505 3,520 3,518 3,530 3,561 3,550
Local Authority major roads 7
Motorways
Excluding slip roads - - - - - - - - - - -
Including slip roads - - - - - - - - - - -
A roads
Dual carriageway 5 228 228 245 242 242 243 243 229 232 268 270
Single carriageway 5 7,190 7,190 7,188 7,182 7,139 7,178 7,178 7,185 7,235 7,204 7,203
Total 7,418 7,418 7,433 7,424 7,381 7,421 7,421 7,414 7,467 7,473 7,473
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 1,440 1,440 1,453 1,485 1,491 1,515 1,508 1,509 1,559 1,567 1,572
over 40 mph 5,977 5,977 5,980 5,939 5,889 5,906 5,913 5,905 5,907 5,906 5,901
All LA major roads 4 7,418 7,418 7,433 7,424 7,381 7,421 7,421 7,414 7,467 7,473 7,473
Local Authority minor roads 7
B roads
limit up to 40 mph 1,092 1,092 1,096 1,141 1,152 1,174 1,176 1,170 1,189 1,194 1,194
limit over 40 mph 6,346 6,346 6,361 6,318 6,349 6,292 6,318 6,311 6,310 6,309 6,305
Total 7,438 7,438 7,458 7,459 7,501 7,466 7,493 7,481 7,499 7,504 7,500
C roads
limit up to 40 mph 1,274 1,274 1,276 1,353 1,266 1,576 1,556 1,555 1,582 1,586 1,593
limit over 40 mph 9,052 9,052 9,059 9,065 9,104 9,091 9,102 9,098 9,105 9,104 9,098
Total 10,325 10,325 10,336 10,419 10,371 10,667 10,658 10,653 10,687 10,690 10,691
Unclassified roads
limit up to 40 mph 14,176 14,210 14,399 14,465 14,768 14,573 14,714 14,828 14,856 14,948 15,020
limit over 40 mph 11,717 11,717 11,716 11,683 11,661 11,712 11,726 11,732 11,727 11,732 11,728
Total 25,893 25,927 26,115 26,148 26,429 26,285 26,440 26,560 26,583 26,680 26,748
All LA minor roads 43,657 43,691 43,909 44,026 44,300 44,418 44,591 44,694 44,769 44,873 44,938
All roads (trunk and LA) 3
Motorways
Excluding slip roads 371 371 377 392 392 392 390 389 397 422 426
Including slip roads 519 519 525 546 547 547 546 544 557 599 596
A, B and C roads
Dual carriageway 5 731 733 769 773 763 764 766 752 756 785 788
Single carriageway 5 27,317 27,311 27,332 27,390 27,333 27,634 27,661 27,646 27,744 27,717 27,707
Total 28,147 28,144 28,206 28,274 28,210 28,512 28,546 28,522 28,625 28,628 28,617
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 4,042 4,042 4,064 4,212 4,138 4,494 4,465 4,467 4,564 4,578 4,590
over 40 mph 24,105 24,102 24,143 24,062 24,073 24,019 24,081 24,054 24,060 24,049 24,027
Unclassified roads
limit up to 40 mph 14,176 14,210 14,399 14,465 14,768 14,573 14,714 14,828 14,856 14,948 15,020
limit over 40 mph 11,717 11,717 11,716 11,683 11,661 11,712 11,726 11,732 11,727 11,732 11,728
Total 25,893 25,927 26,115 26,148 26,429 26,285 26,440 26,560 26,583 26,680 26,748
All roads 3,4 54,559 54,590 54,847 54,968 55,186 55,344 55,532 55,626 55,765 55,906 55,961

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

1. Motorway road lengths are derived from GIS from 2000 onwards - see commentary for more details.

2. Road lengths are physical length rather than carriageway length e.g. 10km of dual carriageway counts as 10km, not 20km.

3. These figures now include A road slip roads which have been excluded from the figures in previous publications. The time series has been updated to include this data resulting in an increase of 3-4% in Trunk road length and an increase in overall road length of 0.2%. The methodology for calculating the trunk road totals from the database has also ch resulting in some small changes to road lengths from those previously published.

4.Trunk road lengths for these roads have now been derived more accurately using a GIS system from 2006.

5. For 2008 and 2009 single and dual carriageways figures are estimated.

6. As at 30 May 2014.

7. Local authority road lengths at the end of the financial year e.g. 2013=2013/14.

Table 4.2 Public road lengths by council area and class, 2013/14
Council Trunk 3 Local Authority 2,5 Total
Motorway 1 Motorway slips A Roads Total A Roads B Roads C Roads Unclass- ified Total
kilometres
Aberdeen City - - 24 24 58 42 93 720 913 937
Aberdeenshire - - 187 187 687 799 1,539 2,447 5,472 5,659
Angus - - 45 45 193 255 488 867 1,802 1,847
Argyll & Bute - - 259 259 557 614 435 726 2,332 2,590
Clackmannanshire - - 2 2 49 34 28 176 288 290
Dumfries & Galloway 61 14 270 345 494 733 1,175 1,749 4,152 4,497
Dundee City - - 18 18 36 17 96 414 563 580
East Ayrshire 9 4 56 69 124 193 211 623 1,151 1,220
East Dunbartonshire - - 54 47 34 369 504 504
East Lothian - - 64 64 95 169 223 444 931 995
East Renfrewshire 9 3 7 19 31 50 83 310 473 492
Edinburgh, City of 20 8 35 62 136 51 119 1,102 1,409 1,470
Eilean Siar - - 340 177 189 486 1,191 1,191
Falkirk 39 12 3 54 114 96 118 638 967 1,021
Fife 16 6 98 119 322 325 352 1,399 2,398 2,517
Glasgow, City of 46 41 2 89 132 64 209 1,382 1,787 1,876
Highland - - 964 964 1,388 979 1,438 2,948 6,753 7,718
Inverclyde - - 28 28 24 23 54 267 367 395
Midlothian - - 33 33 93 100 101 377 670 703
Moray - - 96 96 157 296 363 736 1,553 1,649
North Ayrshire - - 69 69 101 155 207 569 1,032 1,101
North Lanarkshire 4 51 20 25 96 147 144 246 1,030 1,567 1,663
Orkney Islands - - 161 205 160 457 982 982
Perth & Kinross 39 13 204 256 435 367 638 1,039 2,479 2,734
Renfrewshire 18 14 25 57 65 62 140 551 818 875
Scottish Borders - - 164 164 459 599 768 1,138 2,965 3,129
Shetland Islands - - 225 162 199 464 1,049 1,049
South Ayrshire - - 94 94 108 208 232 618 1,166 1,260
South Lanarkshire 63 19 57 139 280 248 440 1,325 2,292 2,431
Stirling 23 6 106 134 212 161 170 468 1,011 1,145
West Dunbartonshire - - 20 20 46 8 27 269 350 370
West Lothian 34 11 - 44 152 117 116 640 1,025 1,069
Total 426 170 2,954 3,550 7,473 7,499 10,691 26,748 52,411 55,961
percentages
Aberdeen City - - 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.6 0.9 2.7 1.7 1.7
Aberdeenshire - - 6.3 5.3 9.2 10.7 14.4 9.1 10.4 10.1
Angus - - 1.5 1.3 2.6 3.4 4.6 3.2 3.4 3.3
Argyll & Bute - - 8.8 7.3 7.5 8.2 4.1 2.7 4.4 4.6
Clackmannanshire - - - 0.1 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.5
Dumfries & Galloway 14.3 8.4 9.1 9.7 6.6 9.8 11.0 6.5 7.9 8.0
Dundee City - - 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.9 1.5 1.1 1.0
East Ayrshire 2.2 2.2 1.9 1.9 1.7 2.6 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.2
East Dunbartonshire - - - 0.0 0.7 0.6 0.3 1.4 1.0 0.9
East Lothian - - 2.2 1.8 1.3 2.3 2.1 1.7 1.8 1.8
East Renfrewshire 2.1 1.7 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.7 0.8 1.2 0.9 0.9
Edinburgh, City of 4.6 4.5 1.2 1.7 1.8 0.7 1.1 4.1 2.7 2.6
Eilean Siar - - - 0.0 4.5 2.4 1.8 1.8 2.3 2.1
Falkirk 9.1 7.2 0.1 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.1 2.4 1.8 1.8
Fife 3.7 3.4 3.3 3.4 4.3 4.3 3.3 5.2 4.6 4.5
Glasgow, City of 10.8 24.2 0.1 2.5 1.8 0.8 2.0 5.2 3.4 3.4
Highland - - 32.6 27.2 18.6 13.1 13.5 11.0 12.9 13.8
Inverclyde - - 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.7
Midlothian - - 1.1 0.9 1.2 1.3 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.3
Moray - - 3.3 2.7 2.1 4.0 3.4 2.8 3.0 2.9
North Ayrshire - - 2.3 1.9 1.4 2.1 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.0
North Lanarkshire 11.9 12.0 0.9 2.7 2.0 1.9 2.3 3.8 3.0 3.0
Orkney Islands - - - 0.0 2.1 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.9 1.8
Perth & Kinross 9.1 7.5 6.9 7.2 5.8 4.9 6.0 3.9 4.7 4.9
Renfrewshire 4.2 8.2 0.9 1.6 0.9 0.8 1.3 2.1 1.6 1.6
Scottish Borders - - 5.6 4.6 6.1 8.0 7.2 4.3 5.7 5.6
Shetland Islands - - - 0.0 3.0 2.2 1.9 1.7 2.0 1.9
South Ayrshire - - 3.2 2.6 1.4 2.8 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.3
South Lanarkshire 14.9 11.0 1.9 3.9 3.7 3.3 4.1 5.0 4.4 4.3
Stirling 5.4 3.4 3.6 3.8 2.8 2.1 1.6 1.7 1.9 2.0
West Dunbartonshire - - 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.3 1.0 0.7 0.7
West Lothian 7.9 6.4 - 1.3 2.0 1.6 1.1 2.4 2.0 1.9
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

1. Motorway road lengths have been consolidated using a GIS system which means that there will be some changes to previously published figures.

2. Triangulation with other sources of road length data has occurred to improve the quality of the information. Figures may not be comparable with previous editions.

3. As at 30 May 2014.

4. The drop in the length of trunk A roads from last year is probably due to the detrunking of A80 with the opening of the M80.

5. Local authority road lengths at the end of the financial year.

Table 4.3 Trunk road constructed/re-surfaced etc
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 ( prov )
Equivalent road lane length lane-kilometres (estimated)
New roads
constructed/opened 24 89 108 7 - 58 - 52 132 - 12
Reconstructed 86 105 142 114 80 56 51 27 57 1 9
Strengthened 319 256 280 324 170 194 213 239 168 338 360
Surface dressed 34 121 66 88 79 123 30 35 10 21 11
Total 463 571 596 533 329 431 294 353 367 360 392
Percentages of total percentages
New roads
constructed/opened 5 16 18 1 - 13 - 15 36 - 3
Reconstructed 1 19 18 24 21 24 13 17 8 16 0 2
Strengthened 69 45 47 61 52 45 72 68 46 94 92
Surface dressed 7 21 11 17 24 29 10 10 3 6 3
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

Table 4.4a Trunk road constructed/re-surfaced etc, by unit, 2012-13
Unit New road constructed for traffic Reconstructed Strengthened Surface Dressed Total
Equivalent road lane length lane-kilometres (estimated)
NW - - 111 16 127
NE - 0 62 1 63
SW - 1 86 1 88
SE - 0 79 2 81
Total - 1 338 21 360
Percentages of total percentages
NW - - 31 149 33
NE - - 17 12 16
SW - 11 24 12 23
SE - - 22 15 21
Total - 11 94 188 92

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

Table 4.4b Trunk road constructed/re-surfaced etc, by unit, 2013-14 (provisional)
Unit New road constructed for traffic Reconstructed Strengthened Surface Dressed Total
Equivalent road lane length lane-kilometres (estimated)
NW - 2 98 5 105
NE - 0 105 3 108
SW 1 12 4 73 1 90
SE 1 - 3 84 2 89
Total 12 9 360 11 392
Percentages of total percentages
NW - 22 27 45 27
NE - - 29 27 28
SW 100 44 20 9 23
SE - 33 23 18 23
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Table 4.5 Trunk road network: Residual Life1 (years)
Residual Life (years)
<0 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 >19
percentages
1997-98 11 8 11 8 8 54
1998-99 10 9 9 8 7 57
1999-00 10 8 10 9 10 53
2000-01 9 7 9 8 8 59
2001-02 4 4 7 7 10 68
2002-03 4 4 7 7 11 67
2003-04 4 4 6 7 12 67
2004-05 4 5 6 7 13 65
2005-06 4 4 6 7 15 63
2006-07 5 4 6 7 15 63
2007-08 4 4 7 7 13 65
2008-09 4 4 6 7 11 68
2009-10 5 5 7 8 11 64
2010-11 5 4 6 7 9 69
2011-12 2 10 7 10 10 11 52
2012-13 13 8 10 10 12 46
2013-14 4 14 8 10 9 11 49

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

(b) The proportion of the motorway/dual and single carriageway trunk road network, which require close monitoring 3

Motorways Dual carriageways Single carriageways
Requires close monitoring % Requires close monitoring % Requires close monitoring %
2002-03 7.5 5.2
2003-04 9.0 5.1
2004-05 9.2 3.9
2005-06 6.7 3.2
2006-07 6.1 2.7
2007-08 8.2 3.9
2008-09 4.3 4.1
2009-10 6.3 5.5 3.7
2010-11 6.2 3.4 4.2
2011-12 2 12.9 9.1 10.3
2012-13 23.1 13.3 11.6
2013-14 4 23.4 15.0 10.3

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

1. Residual life represents the number of years to elapse before the pavement reaches the stage when it may be necessary to undertake relatively more expensive reconstruction rather than strengthening to restore its full life.

2 Method of calculation changed in 2011-12.

3. The part of the network that requires close monitoring is that which has a residual life of less than zero.

Note: it has been decided that surveyed network length is not required as the figures produced are now representative of the whole network as shown in Table 4.1

4. These figures are provisional.

Table 4.6 Local authority road network condition 1, 2
A roads B roads C roads Unclassified All roads
Condition Condition Condition Condition Condition
Red Amber Red Amber Red Amber Red Amber Red Amber
(a) in each Council area: 2013-14 6 percentage
Aberdeen City 2 17 3 20 3 20 5 24 4 23
Aberdeenshire 3 20 2 20 4 19 7 24 5 21
Angus 2 17 6 30 8 24 7 24 6 24
Argyll & Bute 11 34 25 40 23 40 22 37 20 37
Clackmannanshire 4 26 6 33 7 32 15 40 9 35
Dumfries & Galloway 4 23 2 22 5 29 7 33 6 29
Dundee City 6 29 6 29 13 35 22 38 15 34
East Ayrshire 2 16 1 16 2 15 6 26 5 23
East Dunbartonshire 4 22 7 30 13 34 11 34 10 32
East Lothian 6 28 4 25 5 29 11 35 9 33
East Renfrewshire 3 25 4 30 3 26 4 26 4 26
Edinburgh, City of 3 19 4 24 8 29 12 39 10 34
Eilean Siar 4 24 3 21 6 26 7 29 6 28
Falkirk 3 22 6 32 9 30 5 29 6 28
Fife 6 26 5 28 4 25 5 29 5 28
Glasgow, City of 5 23 4 23 3 22 7 29 6 27
Highland 3 22 8 28 12 30 10 28 8 27
Inverclyde 8 30 7 37 11 38 14 37 13 37
Midlothian 3 19 3 25 3 26 6 29 5 26
Moray 1 18 1 15 3 19 6 26 4 22
North Ayrshire 9 26 7 33 14 37 8 31 9 32
North Lanarkshire 2 20 3 24 4 25 6 29 5 27
Orkney Islands 2 15 3 18 1 11 4 20 3 17
Perth & Kinross 7 31 5 30 6 27 8 28 7 29
Renfrewshire 3 23 5 24 12 28 9 32 9 30
Scottish Borders 7 34 11 39 14 34 13 34 12 35
Shetland Islands 3 20 3 22 7 33 9 30 7 28
South Ayrshire 2 19 8 30 7 31 16 38 10 31
South Lanarkshire 4 24 7 32 10 32 16 34 11 31
Stirling 3 22 4 25 14 29 7 30 7 29
West Dunbartonshire 1 15 3 23 6 33 3 22 3 22
West Lothian 9 33 12 32 9 45 9 39 9 37
Scotland 5 24 7 28 8 28 9 30 8 29
(b) for Scotland as a whole: 2005-06 to 2013-14 (New RCI Series)
2005-06 4 27 4 28 4 31 .. .. .. ..
2006-07 4 29 4 29 4 32 .. .. .. ..
2007-08 5 29 6 34 5 33 .. .. .. ..
2008-09 5 28 5 34 5 33 7 37 6 34
2009-10 6 30 6 35 5 33 8 39 7 36
2010-11 6 30 7 36 7 35 10 42 8 38
2011-12 6 30 8 36 8 36 8 38 8 36
2012-13 5 24 7 28 7 28 9 30 7 29
2013-14 6 5 24 7 28 8 28 9 30 8 29
(b) for Scotland as a whole: 2002-03 3 to 2007-08 (Old SPI Series)
2002-03 9 37 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
2003-04 7 33 12 45 8 37 18 52 13 45
2004-05 5 6 31 10 43 5 31 15 50 11 42
2005-06 6 31 9 40 4 29 14 51 10 42
2006-07 6 34 11 35 5 29 18 57 13 47
2007-08 6 34 10 46 6 36 16 53 12 46

Source: Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey - Not National Statistics

1. From 2007-08 the basis of the statutory road performance indicator in Scotland changed to the UK Standard RC More detailed information on the changes can be found at the following web link http://scots.sharepoint.apptix.net/srmcs/General%20Publications/SCANNER%20RCI%20Explanatory%20Notes.p

2. While it has been possible, following the change to the indicator, to calculate the equivalent RCI value for all classified roads from 2005-06, it has not been possible to do this in a reliable manner for unclassified roads, owing to a lack of cracking data for those years. As unclassified roads represent a significant part of the total road network, RCI data for the network is similarly not available for this period It is important to note that owing to the different formulation, no valid comparison can or should be made between the two series

3. The categories used to indicate the condition of the road are described in Section 3.7 of the text. In brief: amber - further investigation should be undertaken to establish if treatment is required red - the road has deteriorated to the point at which it is likely repairs to prolong its future life should be undertaken.

4. Information for 2002-03 is available only for A roads - see Section 4.3 of the text.

5. The SPI figures for Scotland in 2004-05 exclude Glasgow, as the survey in Glasgow was undertaken on a different basis in that year.

6. The figures for 2013-14 were mistakenly shown as 2012-13 in the publication last year. The correct figures for 2012-13 can be found in the chapter 4 dataset for the current publication which can be found here http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/statistics/scottish-transport-statistics-all-editions