NEW research has highlighted the most congested roads in Cornwall.

The research from Ovoko ranks every A-road in the region by current delays and how much conditions have worsened since 2020, highlighting the routes causing the most frustration for drivers.

Drawing on Department for Transport data, the study looks at how many extra seconds each road adds per mile and how those delays have shifted over the past four years.

Taking the top three positions are the A3073 (Bude), A3047 (Scorrier) and the A3076 (Newquay).

The research has shone a particularly unfavourable light on these three routes.

For sheer delay, the A3073, also known as Kings Hill, is Cornwall’s worst road, recording an impressive 61.9 seconds of delay per vehicle per mile in 2024. Meanwhile, the A3047, which passes through Scorrier, Redruth and Pool, sits just behind at 58.9 seconds, although delays on the route have remained broadly stable since 2020.

Despite these frustrating stats, there is one road which is making its way up the ranks to sit among some of the most congested A-roads in the county. No road in Cornwall has deteriorated as sharply as the A3076, which connects the A30 to Gummows Shop. Delays along the route stood at 14.4 seconds per vehicle per mile in 2020, however, by 2024 that figure had reached 58.6 seconds – a rise of 307 per cent in four years.

Following this sharp increase, A3076 finds itself taking third place for the most congested road in Cornwall

The A3082 (Par) and A3072 (Jacobstowe) are also worth noting. The A3082 has climbed from 30.8 to 45.8 seconds, while the A3072 has remained consistently high, sitting just above 40 seconds per mile across the period.

Though, despite these frustrating figures, not every road in Cornwall has seen rising congestion. The A30, A39, A394 and A395 have all seen delays either fall or remain relatively steady since 2020, suggesting the congestion pressure is concentrated rather than county-wide.

Kazimieras Urbonas, supplier excellence manager at Ovoko, has said that these changes across Cornwall’s road network are indicative of shifting traffic patterns, where people are driving, how often and the roads they’re choosing to use. He says that in a region where seasonal traffic creates such a shift, even small changes to these local habits can have a huge impact, causing traffic density to be mismatched with the road.

He said: “What stands out here is not just how high delays are on some roads, but how quickly certain routes have caught up. The A3076 has gone from relatively low delay levels to sitting alongside some of the busiest roads in Cornwall.

“That kind of change usually points to shifting traffic patterns, whether that is new developments, changing travel habits or increased demand on specific routes. Once that happens, delays can rise very quickly.

"And in a county where traffic can double during the summer months, even small shifts in local travel patterns can have an outsized effect on roads that were never built for this volume."