Chapter 4: Road Network

Chapter 4: Road Network

Chapter 4 infographic

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 247.

Key Points

  • Scotland has 56,722 km of road network.
  • Seven per cent is trunk road (1% is motorway).
  • Scotland has 10.4 km of road per 1,000 people compared to 6.1 km in GB.

2. Main Points

Road length

2.1 There were 56,722 kilometres of public road in Scotland at 31 March 2019. The trunk road network accounted for 7% 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 length of the motorway network increased by 1% between April 2018 and April 2019. (Table 4.1)

2.3 Over a quarter of the total trunk road network, and about one-eighth 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 decrease of 16% in the amount of trunk road that was newly constructed, reconstructed, strengthened or surface dressed in 2019-20 compared to the previous year. (Table 4.3)

2.5 In 2019-20, 15.7% of the motorway network, 10.6% of the dual carriageway and 10.1% of the single carriageway trunk road network required close monitoring of the state of the road surface. (Table 4.5 (b))

2.6 In 2019-20 the National Road Condition Indicator (RCI) showed 31% of the local authority A road network may, following more detailed examination, require some kind of maintenance (see the Notes and Definitions section, page 247). For the whole of the local authority network (all road categories), about 36% may similarly require some kind of maintenance. (Table 4.6)

 

Table 4.1: Public road lengths by class, type and speed limit 1,2
  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Trunk roads 3, 6
Motorways Kilometres
Excluding slip roads 390 389 396 420 420 420 420 440 449 449 445
Including slip roads 546 544 558 599 599 600 601 632 645 645 651
A roads
Dual carriageway 523 523 511 500 500 504 504 505 510 554 553
Single carriageway 2,332 2,327 2,282 2,279 2,274 2,326 2,326 2,327 2,320 2,310 2,307
Other inc slips/roundabout 119 123 185 188 191 208 208 204 205 226 228
Total 2,974 2,974 2,978 2,968 2,966 3,037 3,037 3,036 3,036 3,090 3,088
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 226 233 235 237 237 243 243 245 248 241 245
over 40 mph 2,748 2,740 3,302 3,330 3,328 3,395 3,395 3,424 3,433 3,494 3,494
All trunk roads 3,4 3,520 3,518 3,536 3,566 3,565 3,637 3,638 3,669 3,681 3,735 3,739
Local Authority major roads 7
Motorways
Excluding slip roads - - - - - - - - - - -
Including slip roads - - - - - - - - - - -
A roads
Dual carriageway 5 243 229 232 268 270 272 272 272 271 271 303
Single carriageway 5 7,178 7,185 7,235 7,204 7,203 7,134 7,142 7,146 7,156 7,230 7,227
Total 7,421 7,414 7,467 7,473 7,473 7,406 7,414 7,418 7,427 7,500 7,529
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 1,508 1,509 1,559 1,567 1,572 1,616 1,621 1,630 1,642 1,691 1,709
over 40 mph 5,913 5,905 5,907 5,906 5,901 5,791 5,792 5,788 5,785 5,809 5,820
All LA major roads4 7,421 7,414 7,467 7,473 7,473 7,406 7,414 7,418 7,427 7,500 7,529
Local Authority minor roads 7
B roads
limit up to 40 mph 1,176 1,170 1,189 1,194 1,194 1,228 1,226 1,230 1,235 1,241 1,242
limit over 40 mph 6,318 6,311 6,310 6,309 6,305 6,270 6,276 6,268 6,255 6,266 6,275
Total 7,493 7,481 7,499 7,504 7,500 7,498 7,502 7,498 7,491 7,506 7,517
C roads
limit up to 40 mph 1,556 1,555 1,582 1,586 1,593 1,621 1,653 1,658 1,658 1,666 1,679
limit over 40 mph 9,102 9,098 9,105 9,104 9,098 9,060 9,051 9,045 9,043 9,021 9,018
Total 10,658 10,653 10,687 10,690 10,691 10,681 10,703 10,703 10,701 10,687 10,697
Unclassified roads
limit up to 40 mph 14,714 14,828 14,856 14,948 15,020 15,097 15,198 15,273 15,379 15,465 15,561
limit over 40 mph 11,726 11,732 11,727 11,732 11,728 11,735 11,696 11,688 11,686 11,697 11,679
Total 26,440 26,560 26,583 26,680 26,748 26,832 26,895 26,962 27,065 27,162 27,240
All LA minor roads 44,591 44,694 44,769 44,873 44,938 45,011 45,100 45,163 45,257 45,355 45,454
All roads (trunk and LA) 3
Motorways
Excluding slip roads 390 389 396 420 420 420 420 440 449 449 445
Including slip roads 546 544 558 599 599 600 601 632 645 645 651
A, B and C roads
Dual carriageway 5 766 752 742 768 770 776 775 776 781 824 856
Single carriageway 5 27,661 27,646 27,703 27,677 27,667 27,639 27,674 27,675 27,668 27,733 27,747
Total 28,546 28,522 28,630 28,633 28,629 28,623 28,656 28,656 28,654 28,784 28,832
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 4,465 4,467 4,565 4,584 4,595 4,708 4,743 4,763 4,783 4,839 4,875
over 40 mph 24,081 24,054 24,624 24,648 24,632 24,515 24,515 24,525 24,516 24,590 24,607
Unclassified roads
limit up to 40 mph 14,714 14,828 14,856 14,948 15,020 15,097 15,198 15,273 15,379 15,465 15,561
limit over 40 mph 11,726 11,732 11,727 11,732 11,728 11,735 11,696 11,688 11,686 11,697 11,679
Total 26,440 26,560 26,583 26,680 26,748 26,832 26,895 26,962 27,065 27,162 27,240
All roads 3,4 55,532 55,626 55,772 55,912 55,975 56,054 56,152 56,250 56,364 56,591 56,722

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 changed 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, 2019/20
Council Trunk 3 Local Authority 2,5 Total
Motorway 1 Motorway slips A Roads Total A Roads B Roads C Roads Unclassified Total
kilometres
Aberdeen City - - 36 36 129 42 96 730 997 1,033
Aberdeenshire - - 236 236 688 814 1,548 2,515 5,565 5,800
Angus - - 55 55 193 255 489 883 1,819 1,873
Argyll & Bute - - 296 296 505 614 434 733 2,286 2,583
Clackmannanshire - - 3 3 49 34 28 180 292 295
Dumfries & Galloway 59 14 279 352 495 735 1,178 1,776 4,184 4,537
Dundee City - - 19 19 37 17 96 427 576 596
East Ayrshire 11 4 56 70 124 193 211 632 1,161 1,231
East Dunbartonshire - - - - 57 47 34 385 523 523
East Lothian - - 59 59 124 169 200 444 937 997
East Renfrewshire 9 3 10 22 31 50 83 322 485 507
Edinburgh, City of 19 14 34 67 136 49 119 1,132 1,436 1,503
Eilean Siar - - - - 340 177 189 487 1,192 1,192
Falkirk 39 14 5 58 114 96 118 657 985 1,043
Fife 20 8 96 124 322 325 352 1,448 2,446 2,571
Glasgow, City of 52 54 2 109 135 64 209 1,421 1,829 1,937
Highland - - 961 961 1,400 982 1,446 2,939 6,766 7,727
Inverclyde - - 28 28 24 23 54 273 373 401
Midlothian - - 39 39 93 100 101 399 693 731
Moray - - 98 98 157 296 366 739 1,559 1,657
North Ayrshire - - 67 67 101 155 207 579 1,042 1,109
North Lanarkshire 4 57 29 20 107 147 144 246 1,057 1,595 1,701
Orkney Islands - - - - 161 205 160 459 985 985
Perth & Kinross 39 14 208 261 435 367 638 1,064 2,504 2,764
Renfrewshire 18 12 26 56 65 62 140 559 826 883
Scottish Borders - - 167 167 458 599 769 1,151 2,978 3,144
Shetland Islands - - - - 225 162 199 466 1,051 1,051
South Ayrshire - - 93 93 108 209 232 628 1,176 1,269
South Lanarkshire 65 21 56 142 268 247 444 1,313 2,271 2,414
Stirling 21 6 117 144 212 161 171 474 1,017 1,162
West Dunbartonshire - - 23 23 46 8 27 297 378 401
West Lothian 35 13 - 47 152 117 116 672 1,057 1,105
Total 445 206 3,088 3,739 7,529 7,517 10,697 27,240 52,983 56,722
percentages
Aberdeen City - - 1.2 1.0 1.7 0.6 0.9 2.7 1.9 1.8
Aberdeenshire - - 7.6 6.3 9.1 10.8 14.5 9.2 10.5 10.2
Angus - - 1.8 1.5 2.6 3.4 4.6 3.2 3.4 3.3
Argyll & Bute - - 9.6 7.9 6.7 8.2 4.1 2.7 4.3 4.6
Clackmannanshire - - - 0.1 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.7 0.6 0.5
Dumfries & Galloway 13.3 7.0 9.0 9.4 6.6 9.8 11.0 6.5 7.9 8.0
Dundee City - - 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.9 1.6 1.1 1.1
East Ayrshire 2.4 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.6 2.6 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.2
East Dunbartonshire - - - 0.0 0.8 0.6 0.3 1.4 1.0 0.9
East Lothian - - 1.9 1.6 1.6 2.3 1.9 1.6 1.8 1.8
East Renfrewshire 2.1 1.3 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.7 0.8 1.2 0.9 0.9
Edinburgh, City of 4.3 6.7 1.1 1.8 1.8 0.7 1.1 4.2 2.7 2.6
Eilean Siar - - - 0.0 4.5 2.3 1.8 1.8 2.2 2.1
Falkirk 8.8 6.6 0.2 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.1 2.4 1.9 1.8
Fife 4.6 4.0 3.1 3.3 4.3 4.3 3.3 5.3 4.6 4.5
Glasgow, City of 11.8 26.3 0.1 2.9 1.8 0.8 2.0 5.2 3.5 3.4
Highland - - 31.1 25.7 18.6 13.1 13.5 10.8 12.8 13.6
Inverclyde - - 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.7
Midlothian - - 1.3 1.0 1.2 1.3 0.9 1.5 1.3 1.3
Moray - - 3.2 2.6 2.1 3.9 3.4 2.7 2.9 2.9
North Ayrshire - - 2.2 1.8 1.3 2.1 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.0
North Lanarkshire 12.9 14.1 0.7 2.9 2.0 1.9 2.3 3.9 3.0 3.0
Orkney Islands - - - 0.0 2.1 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.9 1.7
Perth & Kinross 8.7 6.8 6.7 7.0 5.8 4.9 6.0 3.9 4.7 4.9
Renfrewshire 4.1 5.7 0.8 1.5 0.9 0.8 1.3 2.1 1.6 1.6
Scottish Borders - - 5.4 4.5 6.1 8.0 7.2 4.2 5.6 5.5
Shetland Islands - - - 0.0 3.0 2.2 1.9 1.7 2.0 1.9
South Ayrshire - - 3.0 2.5 1.4 2.8 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2
South Lanarkshire 14.5 10.3 1.8 3.8 3.6 3.3 4.2 4.8 4.3 4.3
Stirling 4.8 3.1 3.8 3.9 2.8 2.1 1.6 1.7 1.9 2.0
West Dunbartonshire - - 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.3 1.1 0.7 0.7
West Lothian 7.8 6.2 - 1.3 2.0 1.6 1.1 2.5 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 2016.

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
2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 (prov)
Equivalent road lane length lane-kilometres (estimated)
New roads
constructed/opened 58 - 52 132 - 18 3 3 0.5 86 125 2
Reconstructed 56 51 27 57 1 9 7 - 1 1 1 3
Strengthened 194 213 239 168 338 360 365 367 428 457 564 574
Surface dressed 123 30 35 10 21 11 14 8 29 33 16 16
Total 431 294 353 367 360 398 389 378 459 577 706 594
Percentages of total percentages
New roads
constructed/opened 13 - 15 36 - 5 1 1 0 15 18 0
Reconstructed 1 13 17 8 16 0 2 2 - 0 0 0 1
Strengthened 45 72 68 46 94 90 94 97 93 79 80 97
Surface dressed 29 10 10 3 6 3 4 2 6 6 2 3
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

 

Table 4.4(a): Trunk road constructed/re-surfaced etc, by unit, 2018-19
Unit New road constructed for traffic Reconstructed Strengthened Surface Dressed Total
Equivalent road lane length lane-kilometres (estimated)
NW - - 197 3 200
NE 113 1 83 5 201
SW 12 0 151 7 171
SE - - 134 1 135
FBOC 1 - - - - -
Total 125 1 565 16 707
Percentages of total percentages
NW - - 35 19 28
NE 90 62 15 31 28
SW 10 38 27 44 24
SE - - 24 6 19
FBOC 1 - - - - -
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

 

Table 4.4(b): Trunk road constructed/re-surfaced etc, by unit, 2019-20 (provisional)
Unit New road constructed for traffic Reconstructed Strengthened Surface Dressed Total
Equivalent road lane length lane-kilometres (estimated)
NW - - 191 0 191
NE - 1 127 3 132
SW 1 2 2 155 7 165
SE 1 - 0 100 5 106
Total 2 3 574 16 594
Percentages of total percentages
NW - - 33 2 32
NE - 35 22 22 22
SW 100 51 27 42 28
SE - 14 18 34 18
Total 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

1 . FBOC records are now incorporated into South East following the introduction of the Newtork Maintenance Contracts, August 2020

 

(a) Residual Life of Pavements (i.e. road surface) as percentage of whole network

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
2011-122 10 7 10 10 11 52
2012-13 13 8 10 10 12 46
2013-14 14 8 10 9 11 49
2014-15 13 7 9 9 12 50
2015-16 12 9 9 9 13 48
2016-17 12 9 9 9 12 49
2017-18 11 9 9 9 12 51
2018-19 11 9 9 9 12 51
2019-20 4 11 8 9 9 13 50
Operating Company Areas 2019-20 4
North West Unit 12 7 8 8 12 53
North East Unit 12 12 12 11 13 40
South East Unit 5 11 9 9 8 13 49
South West Unit 8 7 7 7 15 56

(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
2011-122 12.9 9.1 10.3
2012-13 23.1 13.3 11.6
2013-14 23.4 15.0 10.3
2014-15 22.9 10.4 11.3
2015-16 21.5 9.8 10.5
2016-17 16.9 10.7 11.5
2017-18 13.4 8.6 11.3
2018-19 14.5 9.2 10.7
2019-20 4 15.7 10.6 10.1
Operating Company Areas 2019-20 4
North West Unit - 15.9 11.2
North East Unit 13.1 10.9 13.7
South East Unit 5 21 8.54 4.9
South West Unit 10.2 8.09 7.7

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.

5. FBOC records are now incorporated into South East following the introduction of the Newtork Maintenance Contracts, August 2020

 

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: 2019-20 percentage
Aberdeen City 4 20 3 20 4 19 6 26 5 25
Aberdeenshire 3 24 2 21 2 19 5 25 4 23
Angus 3 26 6 32 4 26 6 29 5 28
Argyll & Bute 9 33 20 42 16 41 18 36 16 38
Clackmannanshire 3 22 2 16 5 24 8 35 6 29
Dumfries & Galloway 5 29 5 30 11 35 19 40 12 35
Dundee City 2 21 3 23 1 13 4 25 3 23
East Ayrshire 4 19 6 27 9 30 10 32 8 29
East Dunbartonshire 4 24 4 24 5 24 6 29 5 28
East Lothian 4 27 6 32 3 28 5 28 4 29
East Renfrewshire 2 14 2 24 8 25 8 32 7 28
Edinburgh, City of 6 24 4 21 5 23 7 28 6 27
Eilean Siar 6 28 6 31 8 40 7 36 7 34
Falkirk 4 25 4 28 6 28 7 32 6 31
Fife 6 26 6 28 4 28 4 28 5 28
Glasgow, City of 4 25 2 18 2 17 4 26 4 25
Highland 4 26 7 30 10 31 10 30 8 30
Inverclyde 3 18 5 26 10 34 7 30 7 30
Midlothian 3 22 5 26 5 30 7 31 6 29
Moray 3 26 2 23 3 22 7 29 5 26
North Ayrshire 8 31 5 31 10 37 6 28 7 30
North Lanarkshire 2 16 2 18 4 22 5 30 4 26
Orkney Islands 2 24 2 19 2 13 3 19 2 19
Perth & Kinross 8 31 5 30 5 31 6 31 6 31
Renfrewshire 2 18 3 21 8 26 7 29 6 27
Scottish Borders 6 32 7 36 6 33 13 41 9 36
Shetland Islands 1 15 7 29 3 29 8 38 6 30
South Ayrshire 6 29 7 30 9 33 9 33 9 32
South Lanarkshire 3 21 3 23 6 32 4 26 4 26
Stirling 4 28 6 34 8 32 14 33 10 32
West Dunbartonshire 4 21 1 20 6 26 5 29 4 27
West Lothian 2 18 4 26 8 31 3 24 3 24
Scotland 5 26 6 29 7 29 8 30 7 29
(b) for Scotland as a whole: 2005-06 to 2019-20 (New RCI Series) 2
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 5 24 7 28 8 28 9 30 8 29
2014-15 5 24 7 29 9 29 9 30 8 29
2015-16 4 25 6 29 6 28 9 31 7 29
2016-17 4 25 6 29 6 28 9 31 7 29
2017-18 4 26 6 29 7 29 8 31 7 30
2018-19 4 26 6 29 7 29 8 31 7 29
2019-20 5 26 6 29 7 29 8 30 7 29
(c) for Scotland as a whole: 2002-03 3 to 2007-08 (Old SPI Series)
2002-03 4 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 Road Condition Indicator.

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 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.

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.

 

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