National Highways is the government-owned company responsible for operating, maintaining, and improving England’s motorways and major A roads. They monitor traffic 24/7, manage roadworks, and respond to incidents to keep journeys safe and flowing smoothly. If you break down or encounter an issue on a major road, they can assist by deploying traffic officers or coordinating emergency support. At Motor Bridge, we see National Highways as a vital part of keeping the country moving safely and efficiently.
At Motor Bridge, we are committed to helping the public better understand the systems, organisations, and infrastructure that keep the UK moving. One of the most important of these is National Highways — a government-owned company responsible for managing the strategic road network in England.
National Highways is a government-owned company, wholly owned by the Secretary of State for Transport. It is responsible for operating, maintaining, and improving England’s strategic road network — which includes the country’s motorways and major A roads. This network stretches over 4,500 miles and plays a vital role in keeping people and goods moving efficiently across the country.
Although not widely known by name to many drivers, National Highways is behind much of what makes our national road network safe, functional, and reliable every day.
National Highways has a wide range of responsibilities that include:
Managing and maintaining major motorways and A roads
Responding to incidents and ensuring roads are reopened safely and quickly
Delivering infrastructure projects to upgrade and expand road capacity
Monitoring traffic flow and using smart motorway technology to ease congestion
Promoting road safety and working to reduce accident rates across the network
These efforts are essential for ensuring that the UK’s roads can meet the needs of commuters, businesses, and emergency services—both now and in the future.
The roads managed by National Highways carry around one-third of all traffic and two-thirds of all freight in England. This makes the strategic road network a critical backbone of the UK’s transport system and a key part of the national economy.
By maintaining and improving these major routes, National Highways helps:
Keep supply chains moving smoothly
Connect cities, towns, ports, and airports
Enable millions of daily journeys for work, leisure, and essential services
Support economic growth through improved connectivity and reduced travel times
While National Highways operates behind the scenes, its work impacts nearly everyone in the country—whether you drive, take public transport, or receive deliveries. Understanding who they are and what they do helps us all appreciate the importance of investment, planning, and safety on our roads.
At Motor Bridge, we believe in making transport knowledge accessible to all. National Highways is a key part of the UK’s road ecosystem, and their work underpins the journeys we take every day.
National Highways manages over 4,500 miles of road — but those roads carry more than two-thirds of all freight traffic in England?
That means while the strategic road network accounts for only around 2% of all roads by length, it carries a disproportionately high amount of the nation’s traffic, making it one of the most intensively used transport networks in Europe.
Motor Bridge is an independent organisation and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with National Highways or the Department for Transport. This page is intended for informational purposes only.
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