Chapter 4: Road Network

Chapter 4: Road Network

Chapter 4: Road Network - Infographic

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 245.

Key Points

  • Scotland has 56,092 km of road network
  • Six per cent is trunk road (1% is motorway)
  • Scotland has 10.4 km of road per 1,000 people compared to 6.3 km in GB.

2. Main Points

Road length

2.1 There were 56,092 kilometres of public road in Scotland at 31 March 2016. 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 81% of roads.  (Table 4.1)

2.2 The length of the motorway network remained the same between April 2015 and April 2016.  (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 a decrease of 2% in the amount of trunk road that was newly constructed, reconstructed, strengthened or surface dressed in 2015-16 compared to the previous year. (Table 4.3)

2.5 In 2015-16, 21.7% of the motorway network, 11% of the dual carriageway and 12% of the single carriageway trunk road network required close monitoring of the state of the road surface.  (Table 4.5 (b))

2.6 In 2015-16 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 246). 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
  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Trunk roads 3, 6
Motorways Kilometres
Excluding slip roads 377  392  392  392  390  389  397  420  420  420  420 
Including slip roads 525  546  547  547  546  544  558  598  598  600  601 
A roads
Dual carriageway 524  531  521  521  523  523  523  513  513  504  504 
Single carriageway 2,351  2,330  2,323  2,323  2,332  2,327  2,317  2,316  2,314  2,326  2,326 
Other inc slips/roundabout 105  111  114  114  119  123  125  126  126  141  147 
Total 2,980  2,972  2,958  2,958  2,974  2,974  2,965  2,955  2,953  2,970  2,977 
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 238  232  229  229  226  233  230  227  227  239  243 
over 40 mph 2,742  2,740  2,730  2,730  2,748  2,740  2,735  2,727  2,725  3,331  3,335 
All trunk roads 3,4 3,505  3,518  3,505  3,505  3,520  3,518  3,523  3,553  3,551  3,570  3,578 
Local Authority major roads 7
Motorways
Excluding slip roads  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - 
Including slip roads  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - 
A roads
Dual carriageway 5 245  242  242  | 243  243  | 229  232 268 270 272 272
Single carriageway 5 7,188  7,182  7,139  | 7,178  7,178  | 7,185  7,235 7,204 7,203 7,134 7,142
Total 7,433  7,424  7,381  | 7,421  7,421  | 7,414  7,467 7,473 7,473 7,406 7,414
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 1,453  1,485  1,491  1,515  1,508  1,509  1,559  1,567  1,572  1,616  1,621 
over 40 mph 5,980  5,939  5,889  5,906  5,913  5,905  5,907  5,906  5,901  5,791  5,792 
All LA major roads4 7,433  7,424  7,381  7,421  7,421  7,414  7,467  7,473  7,473  7,406  7,414 
Local Authority minor roads 7
B roads
limit up to 40 mph 1,096  1,141  1,152  1,174  1,176  1,170  1,189  1,194  1,194  1,228  1,226 
limit over 40 mph 6,361  6,318  6,349  6,292  6,318  6,311  6,310  6,309  6,305  6,270  6,276 
Total  7,458  7,459  7,501  7,466  7,493  7,481  7,499  7,504  7,500  7,498  7,502 
C roads
limit up to 40 mph 1,276  1,353  1,266  1,576  1,556  1,555  1,582  1,586  1,593  1,621  1,653 
limit over 40 mph 9,059  9,065  9,104  9,091  9,102  9,098  9,105  9,104  9,098  9,060  9,051 
Total  10,336  10,419  10,371  10,667  10,658  10,653  10,687  10,690  10,691  10,681  10,703 
Unclassified roads
limit up to 40 mph 14,399  14,465  14,768  14,573  14,714  14,828  14,856  14,948  15,020  15,097  15,198 
limit over 40 mph 11,716  11,683  11,661  11,712  11,726  11,732  11,727  11,732  11,728  11,735  11,696 
Total  26,115  26,148  26,429  26,285  26,440  26,560  26,583  26,680  26,748  26,832  26,895 
All LA minor roads 43,909  44,026  44,300  44,418  44,591  44,694  44,769  44,873  44,938  45,011  45,100 
All roads (trunk and LA) 3
Motorways
Excluding slip roads 377  392  392  392  390  389  397  420  420  420  420 
Including slip roads 525  546  547  547  546  544  558  598  598  600  601 
A, B and C roads
Dual carriageway 5 769  773  763  | 764  766  | 752  755  781  783  776  775 
Single carriageway 5 27,332  27,390  27,333|  27,634  27,661 | 27,646  27,737  27,713  27,706  27,639  27,674 
Total 28,206  28,274  28,210  28,512  28,546  28,522  28,617  28,620  28,615  28,556  28,596 
by speed limit:
up to 40 mph 4,064  4,212  4,138  4,494  4,465  4,467  4,560  4,574  4,586  4,704  4,743 
over 40 mph 24,143  24,062  24,073  24,019  24,081  24,054  24,057  24,046  24,029  24,451  24,455 
Unclassified roads
limit up to 40 mph 14,399  14,465  14,768  14,573  14,714  14,828  14,856  14,948  15,020  15,097  15,198 
limit over 40 mph 11,716  11,683  11,661  11,712  11,726  11,732  11,727  11,732  11,728  11,735  11,696 
Total 26,115  26,148  26,429  26,285  26,440  26,560  26,583  26,680  26,748  26,832  26,895 
All roads 3,4 54,847  54,968  55,186  55,344  55,532  55,626  55,758  55,898  55,962  55,987  56,092 

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, 2015/16
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  -   -   24   24   58   42   93   720   913   937 
Aberdeenshire  -   -   177   177   687   799   1,540   2,485   5,510   5,687 
Angus  -   -   53   53   193   255   489   875   1,811   1,864 
Argyll & Bute  -   -   296   296   505   614   434   730   2,283   2,579 
Clackmannanshire   -   -   1   1   49   34   28   177   288   289 
Dumfries & Galloway  59   14   273   347   494   735   1,178   1,757   4,164   4,511 
Dundee City  -   -   18   18   36   17   96   414   563   580 
East Ayrshire  11   4   56   70   124   193   211   625   1,154   1,223 
East Dunbartonshire  -     59   59   54   47   34   370   505   565 
East Lothian  -   -   -   -   95   169   223   444   931   931 
East Renfrewshire  9   3   10   22   31   50   83   310   474   496 
Edinburgh, City of  15   12   35   61   135   51   119   1,110   1,415   1,476 
Eilean Siar  -     -   -   340   177   189   486   1,191   1,191 
Falkirk  39   13   4   56   114   96   118   642   971   1,027 
Fife  16   6   96   118   322   325   352   1,407   2,406   2,523 
Glasgow, City of  52   48   2   102   135   64   209   1,403   1,811   1,913 
Highland  -   -   959   959   1,391   976   1,440   2,936   6,743   7,702 
Inverclyde  -   -   28   28   24   23   54   268   369   397 
Midlothian  -   -   35   35   93   100   101   387   680   716 
Moray  -   -   99   99   157   296   366   735   1,555   1,654 
North Ayrshire  -   -   68   68   101   155   207   572   1,035   1,103 
North Lanarkshire 4  42   19   25   86   147   143   246   1,030   1,567   1,653 
Orkney Islands  -     -   -   161   205   160   458   984   984 
Perth & Kinross  39   13   208   260   435   367   638   1,047   2,487   2,748 
Renfrewshire  18   11   26   55   65   62   140   554   821   876 
Scottish Borders  -   -   140   140   459   599   768   1,143   2,970   3,110 
Shetland Islands  -     -   -   225   162   199   464   1,049   1,049 
South Ayrshire  -   -   92   92   108   209   232   622   1,170   1,263 
South Lanarkshire  65   20   54   139   267   251   445   1,308   2,271   2,410 
Stirling  21   6   116   143   212   161   170   472   1,015   1,159 
West Dunbartonshire  -   -   23   23   46   8   27   293   375   397 
West Lothian  33   12   -   46   152   117   116   651   1,036   1,082 
Total  420   181   2,977   3,578   7,414   7,502   10,703   26,895   52,514   56,092 
                  percentages
Aberdeen City - - 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.6 0.9 2.7 1.7 1.7
Aberdeenshire - - 5.9 4.9 9.3 10.6 14.4 9.2 10.5 10.1
Angus - - 1.8 1.5 2.6 3.4 4.6 3.3 3.4 3.3
Argyll & Bute - - 10.0 8.3 6.8 8.2 4.1 2.7 4.3 4.6
Clackmannanshire  - - - 0.0 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.5
Dumfries & Galloway 14.1 8.0 9.2 9.7 6.7 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 2.5 2.0 1.9 2.0 1.7 2.6 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.2
East Dunbartonshire - - - 1.7 0.7 0.6 0.3 1.4 1.0 1.0
East Lothian - - 0.0 0.0 1.3 2.3 2.1 1.7 1.8 1.7
East Renfrewshire 2.2 1.6 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.7 0.8 1.2 0.9 0.9
Edinburgh, City of 3.5 6.3 1.2 1.7 1.8 0.7 1.1 4.1 2.7 2.6
Eilean Siar - - - 0.0 4.6 2.4 1.8 1.8 2.3 2.1
Falkirk 9.4 7.4 0.1 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.1 2.4 1.8 1.8
Fife 3.7 3.2 3.2 3.3 4.3 4.3 3.3 5.2 4.6 4.5
Glasgow, City of 12.4 26.5 0.1 2.9 1.8 0.8 2.0 5.2 3.4 3.4
Highland - - 32.2 26.8 18.8 13.0 13.5 10.9 12.8 13.7
Inverclyde - - 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.7
Midlothian - - 1.2 1.0 1.2 1.3 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.3
Moray - - 3.3 2.8 2.1 4.0 3.4 2.7 3.0 2.9
North Ayrshire - - 2.3 1.9 1.4 2.1 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.0
North Lanarkshire 10.0 10.7 0.8 2.4 2.0 1.9 2.3 3.8 3.0 2.9
Orkney Islands - - - 0.0 2.2 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.9 1.8
Perth & Kinross 9.2 7.4 7.0 7.3 5.9 4.9 6.0 3.9 4.7 4.9
Renfrewshire 4.4 5.8 0.9 1.5 0.9 0.8 1.3 2.1 1.6 1.6
Scottish Borders - - 4.7 3.9 6.2 8.0 7.2 4.3 5.7 5.5
Shetland Islands - - - 0.0 3.0 2.2 1.9 1.7 2.0 1.9
South Ayrshire - - 3.1 2.6 1.5 2.8 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.3
South Lanarkshire 15.5 10.8 1.8 3.9 3.6 3.3 4.2 4.9 4.3 4.3
Stirling 5.1 3.5 3.9 4.0 2.9 2.1 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.1
West Dunbartonshire - - 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.3 1.1 0.7 0.7
West Lothian 8.0 6.8 - 1.3 2.1 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
  2005-06 2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 2010-11  2011-12  2012-13 2013-14  2014-15  2015-16 (prov)
Equivalent road lane length                     lane-kilometres (estimated)
New roads                      
   constructed/opened  108   7   -   58   -   52   132   -   18   3   3 
Reconstructed  142   114   80   56   51   27   57   1   9   7   - 
Strengthened  280   324   170   194   213   239   168   338   360   365   373 
Surface dressed  66   88   79   123   30   35   10   21   11   14   5 
Total 596 533  329   431   294   353   367   360   398   389   381 
Percentages of total                    percentages   
New roads                      
   constructed/opened 18 1  -   13   -   15   36   -   5   1   1 
Reconstructed 1 24 21  24   13   17   8   16   0   2   2   - 
Strengthened 47 61  52   45   72   68   46   94   90   94   98 
Surface dressed 11 17  24   29   10   10   3   6   3   4   1 
Total 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, 2014-15
Unit New road constructed for traffic   Reconstructed     Strengthened     Surface Dressed   Total
Equivalent road lane length                     lane-kilometres (estimated)
NW  3    3     120     4   130
NE  -     -      66     1   67
SW  -    4     89     1   94
SE  -     -      86     8   94
FBOC  -     -      4      -    4
Total  3     7       365       14     389 
Percentages of total                     percentages
NW 100 - 43 - - 33 - - 29 - 33
NE - - - - - 18 - - 7 - 17
SW - - 57 - - 24 - - 7 - 24
SE - - - - - 24 - - 57 - 24
FBOC - - - - - 1 - - - - 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, 2015-16 (provisional)
Unit New road constructed for traffic Reconstructed Strengthened Surface         Dressed Total
Equivalent road lane length         lane-kilometres (estimated)
NW  -   -  146 1 147
NE  3   -  74 2 79
SW 1  -   -  60 1 61
SE 1  -   -  87 1 88
FBOC  -   -  6  -  6
Total  3   -  373 5 381
Percentages of total         percentages
NW - - 39 20 39
NE 100 - 20 40 21
SW - - 16 20 16
SE - - 23 20 23
FBOC - - 2 - 2
Total 100 - 100 100 100

Source: Transport Scotland - Not National Statistics

 

Table 4.5     Trunk road network: Residual Life1 (years)
(a)   Residual Life of Pavements (i.e. road surface) as percentage of whole network
    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
2015-164 12 9 9 9 13 48
Operating Company Areas 2015-16 4
Forth Bridges Unit 17 8 11 10 12 42
North West Unit 9 7 8 8 12 54
North East Unit 11 10 11 9 12 46
South East Unit 11 9 9 9 16 46
South West Unit 16 9 8 8 13 46

 

(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 closemonitoring Requires closemonitoring
  % % %
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
2015-164 21.5 9.8 10.5
Operating Company Areas 2015-16 4
Forth Bridges Unit 21.1 5.2  -  
North West Unit  -   9.2 9.5
North East Unit 14.9 6.2 16.4
South East Unit 18.2 5.7 6.9
South West Unit 21.8 16.7 12.0

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:  2015-16 percentage 
Aberdeen City 2 18 3 21 3 21 4 23 4 22
Aberdeenshire 2 21 2 18 2 17 6 25 4 21
Angus 2 18 4 28 4 23 7 25 5 24
Argyll & Bute 9 36 17 44 17 42 15 38 15 40
Clackmannanshire  2 21 3 26 4 28 8 33 6 30
Dumfries & Galloway 5 29 5 30 8 34 21 38 12 34
Dundee City 2 17 1 21 1 15 6 27 4 23
East Ayrshire 2 19 5 29 8 32 11 34 8 31
East Dunbartonshire 5 25 4 24 5 23 10 34 8 31
East Lothian 4 30 5 32 4 28 5 27 4 28
East Renfrewshire 2 17 4 27 7 25 10 35 8 31
Edinburgh, City of 5 24 3 24 5 26 7 31 7 29
Eilean Siar 8 30 7 33 6 43 8 41 7 37
Falkirk 3 25 5 30 4 31 5 29 5 29
Fife 4 23 5 28 3 27 5 29 5 28
Glasgow, City of  3 22 2 18 2 17 6 30 5 27
Highland 3 24 6 29 8 31 13 33 9 30
Inverclyde 3 28 5 31 9 35 11 33 10 33
Midlothian 2 18 4 24 4 27 5 30 4 27
Moray 2 22 2 21 3 21 5 27 4 24
North Ayrshire 9 27 4 29 10 38 6 29 7 31
North Lanarkshire 2 20 3 24 4 25 6 31 5 29
Orkney Islands 2 18 2 17 2 13 4 21 3 18
Perth & Kinross 6 31 4 32 4 29 6 26 6 29
Renfrewshire 4 23 4 27 10 29 8 30 7 29
Scottish Borders 4 28 7 35 7 35 16 42 10 37
Shetland Islands 2 19 7 27 4 31 14 37 9 30
South Ayrshire 7 35 10 39 11 33 11 33 10 34
South Lanarkshire 2 20 2 21 5 31 7 30 6 28
Stirling 5 27 8 33 9 33 17 35 11 33
West Dunbartonshire 3 23 3 20 5 25 7 32 6 30
West Lothian 1 16 3 22 8 36 3 24 4 24
Scotland 4 25 6 29 6 28 9 31 7 29
(b) for Scotland as a whole:  2005-06  to 2015-16 (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
(b) 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 RCI.
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.