A MAJOR Hampshire road sees one of the biggest increases in traffic during the summer in the country

As thousands of parents and children pack their suitcases ready for the annual school holiday getaway today, one county road sees the fifth highest increase in traffic in England.

The A31, which runs through the New Forest, is one of the most used roads in the summer months.

It sees a 13.1 per cent rise in vehicles using the route as visitors spend time basking in New Forest beauty spots.

The figures have been released by the government and ranks the top 20 A roads managed by Highways England.

The road management organisation is running an ongoing consultation on the road’s Ringwood and Verwood junctions that runs until August 4. Proposals include adding a third lane and possibly reducing speed limits.

Dean Brunton, New Forest council transport expert, said: “All year the A31 is a critical route in maintaining the diverse economy of the New Forest. This is a busy route, especially so in the summer when understandably people want to visit us here in the beautiful New Forest.

“Surveys have also shown that around 70 per cent of domestic day visitors to the New Forest each year are from Hampshire and 18 per cent from Dorset. With around 85 per cent of people using a car as their primary mode of transport a significant proportion of these visitors will be using the route.We welcome the A31 improvement consultation being done at the moment.”

The data was published in response to a parliamentary question, and sees the A458 towards Snowdonia national park in Wales top the list. The department for transport said that the data represented the six weeks of peak school summer holiday compared to the closest six weeks of normal working weeks unaffected by school or bank holidays.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation said: “We sometimes forget that they are also key roads for local motorists who are going about their daily business rather than setting off on holiday.

“We hope that many of these routes will feature in the government’s future investment programme so that whatever the purpose of people’s journey, the answer to the backseat question ‘are we there yet?’ will be ‘very nearly’.