CUMBRIAN A-roads can be notoriously slow - with only a few dual carriageways, the fell passes often needing work and a large influx of tourists in the summer. 

New data published by the Department for Transport reveals exactly how slow your local A-road is. The 'average speed, delay and reliability of travel times' data set shows how long it takes for drivers to travel. 

This is the average speed of A-roads in Cumbria in 2023 (flow-weighted), ranked slowest to fastest: 

  1. A69: 15.4mph
  2. A5094: 18.6mph
  3. A5271: 19.7mph
  4. A5074: 20.2mph
  5. A5075: 21.9mph
  6. A597: 22.4mph
  7. A5284: 22.7mph
  8. A593: 23.4mph
  9. A7: 25.3mph 
  10. A5087: 26.5mph
  11. A684: 29.0mph
  12. A592: 30.2mph
  13. A65: 30.7mph
  14. A596: 31.7mph
  15. A6: 31.8mph
  16. A5093: 32.3mph
  17. A590: 32.5mph
  18. A686: 32.6mph
  19. A594: 32.7mph
  20. 5084: 33.0mph
  21. A5086: 33.1mph
  22. A5091: 33.5mph
  23. A6070: 34.2mph
  24. A5092: 34.8mph
  25. A595: 35.6mph
  26. A683: 35.7mph
  27. A689: 35.9mph
  28. A6071: 36.8mph
  29. A591: 38.1mph
  30. A685: 39.1mph

The total average speed of Cumbrian roads is 30.8mph, which is well above the English average of 23mph. 

The data set also calculates average delay on local A roads. In England it was 47.9 seconds per vehicle per mile (spvpm) in 2023. There are four roads in Cumbria that were below the average: 

  • A5074: 56.8 spvpm
  • A5094: 61.9 spvpm
  • A69: 84.2 spvpm 
  • A5271: 54.7spvpm