THE New England Highway has gained the ignominy of being named the worst stretch of road in the Hunter, according to the NRMA's Rate Your Road survey, the largest community transport appraisal in NSW history.
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And those polled overwhelmingly called out congestion as the number once concern for Hunter motorists.
The survey, launched in January to give locals a voice leading up to Saturday's state election, asked voters to evaluate the roads and highways they travel each day on a scale of very poor to excellent based on congestion, condition and safety.
More than 2000 people voted for dozens of Hunter roads, with the New England Highway (209 votes) rated the worst road in the Hunter due to congestion during peak travel times.
Nelson Bay Road (131), Pacific Highway at Hexham (46) and Newcastle Road (35) also rated poorly due to congestion.
Meanwhile, Downing Street at Dungog (31 votes) incurred the wrath of locals due to the poor condition of the road.
Both major parties have promised to spend more than a billion dollars on Hunter roads in the build-up to the state election.
And with the federal election slated for May, the NRMA say the data will be invaluable in determining improvements for the region's transport network.
Despite the number of motorists fed up with being stuck in traffic on the stretch of road that links Newcastle with Maitland and the Upper Hunter, it was Lake Macquarie that scored the worst among local government areas.
Roads and highways around the lake received 493 votes from those surveyed, followed by Newcastle (408), Port Stephens (386), Cessnock (301) and Maitland (194).
Across the state, more than 23,400 people voted for 10,000 roads as part of the largest transport survey in NSW history.
And once again the Pacific Highway retained its spot as not only one of the state's most travelled roads but the most complained about.
The 790-kilometre national highway polled 1092 votes and a rating of 50 out of 100.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury praised those who completed the survey and said the data would be critical as the organisation worked to improve the region's transport network.
"To have mobilised more than 2000 people from around the Hunter for the NRMA's state election campaign is very humbling and our commitment to the community is that their participation will not go to waste," Mr Khoury said.
"These survey results are telling. Across the region, motorists have called out congestion as their number one concern."
