Areas unstuck in traffic jams

Though some may welcome traffic congestion as an indication of economic prosperity, the truth is nobody likes getting stuck in a bumper-to-bumper jam.

And it looks like if you live in Wolverhampon or Cannock Chase, you are more likely to get caught in traffic than anywhere else in the West Midlands. The two local authority areas have emerged as the worst in the region for traffic - coming 31st and 36th respectively in a new poll assessing traffic levels across the whole of the country.

The information appears on the www.keepmoving.co.uk government site and rates traffic levels either according to local authority area or parliamentary constituency. The tables were drawn up using data gathered over the last five years.

The sites average out traffic levels across a particular area rather than concentrating on a particularly bad route. Everyone in the region knows that if you drive on the M5/M6 interchange on a Friday night you're not exactly going to sail through. But there are other roads in Sandwell which are not so busy, leading to the authority's rating of 47th out of 404 for traffic congestion.

Birminghan is perhaps surprisingly down in 87th, with most of the West Midland local authority areas being in the top 200 for clogged roads.

Yet the two West Midland authorities areas that are out of the top 200 contain notorious traffic hot spots. Anyone who has queued to get into the Merry Hill Centre in the run-up to Christmas would be amazed that Dudley is only 207th for congestion.

And there are whole parts in Wyre Forest (Stourport and parts of Kidderminster) which come to a grinding halt during rush hour - yet it is ranked a lowly 234th for congestion.

The ratings for parliamentary constituencies, meanwhile, throw up some interesting anomalies. Wolverhampton South West is one of the worst places in the country to drive - ranking 15th for congestion out of the 628 constituencies. Yet vehicles appear to move more easily in Wolverhampton North East, which has a lowly rating of 517th.

Walsall North and Aldridge and Brownhills also emerge as decent places to get around, ranking 499th and 593rd respectively.

Visitors to the site are additionally able to view any roadworks, incidents or planned closures on any of the roads in their constituency.