Sheffield's most congested routes, according to YOU

Responding to a study by traffic analysts TomTom that found Sheffield drivers now spend 36 minutes a day stuck in jams, people highlighted their own examples of congestion and slow journeys.

They said the problem wasn't limited to cars, and people using public transport also suffered delays.

The study rated Sheffield - the fifth largest city in the UK in terms of population - seventh worst city for congestion, making it as bad as New York. But it was better than Belfast, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Brighton and Bournemouth.

Timothy Barker said work should have been done to anticipate congestion years ago.

"The Victorian road system has hardly changed, with bus lanes, bike lanes, way too many sets of lights, crossings straight after roundabouts that never let them clear - but the alternative public transport of passenger-chasing buses clogging the roads up isn't the answer," he said.

"It needed inspiration and foresight years ago to have the vision to see what was coming, but as ever Sheffield, along with many other cities, just bungled along letting it get worse and worse, with half measures along the way to try to cure it which inevitably all have just caused more mayhem."

But Sarah Shale said there was 'nothing wrong' with the road system.

She added: "It's the fact that the roads are absolutely crammed with the thousands and thousands of cars, vans and lorries.

"But people will blame the roads because they want to be in the comfort of their cars and not find an alternative way of travel.

"It doesn't matter what city you live in and how efficient the road systems are. If there is too much traffic it just simply isn't going to move, there wont be a steady flow and the more traffic that's added then the more gridlocked it becomes. It's not rocket science."

And Ryan Rees said things could be worse.

"Seriously, whoever researched this needs to live in Birmingham," he said. "You don't know a traffic jam until you've been stuck in one in Birmingham.

"I used to live there and Sheffield in comparison is a delight to drive during rush hour."

The city's most congested routes, according to readers:

Paula Bird

"Chapeltown to Sheffield (seven miles) can take an hour and a half. Queuing through Grenoside, down Halifax Road, along Penistone Road - it's awful.

"I started using the train but they send one with two carriages and we are squashed in like chickens. Ridiculous."

Leigh Dawson

"It has taken me two hours on numerous occasions to get to work from Lowedges to Brightside Lane on buses. You can get to Malaga by plane from Manchester in just over two hours - that puts it in perspective."

Chris Levesley

"Whoever plans the city's roads seems to take great delight in slowing down traffic and making it more awkward to get where you want - recent examples being the Leppings Lane/Penistone Road junction and the Glossop Road/West Street area.

"Why stop traffic from turning left from Glossop Road towards the Brook Street roundabout? It makes no sense!"

Thomas Hempshall

"Life would be a lot better if there were less taxis and buses. I counted five buses at Hillsborough interchange with either no passengers on or only one or two."

Rachael Beer

"It's ridiculous, that's what it is. I live at Shiregreen and work in Burngreave. It can take me 45 minutes to get there most days. Forty-five minutes for what should be a five or 10 minute journey. It's a joke."

Paul Metcalf

"The road layout has not kept up with the times. The city desperately needs a dual carriageway out to the west of the city, serving the Greystones area.

"Personally I'd loop it around over Ranmoor, Crosspool, Stannington, Wisewood and Oughtibridge, then joining the Stocksbridge bypass.

"Why won't it happen? Because it's money over people, that's why. All these rubbish one-way streets and pedestrianised areas in the city centre don't help either."

John Cook

"Sheffield is possibly one of the worst traffic cities I have ever been in. It all seems designed to slow the flow of traffic. Massive numbers of traffic lights cause stop/start driving.

"Because of poor traffic flow and stop/start driving fuel consumption is massive, and as a result pollution is running rampant.

"Many, many years ago they had the lights in Attercliffe synchronised so that if you drove at 30mph you could go from the Wicker to the M1 junction without stopping. That didn't last for long.

"If that sort of synchronisation, and better driving was involved, traffic flow would be improved and traffic pollution vastly reduced."

Chris Eyre

"I live 1.4 miles from Meadowhall and work near the city side of Glossop Road, a total distance of 6.3 miles.

"If I take the route which takes me through Brightside, Atlas etcetera, there are 46 sets of traffic lights to contend with. If I take the longer but sometimes quicker route of 6.9 miles through Attercliffe there are 59 sets of traffic lights.

"Are they all really necessary I wonder? On the occasions when the lights at Meadowhall roundabout have broken down I found that the traffic flowed more quickly.

"I have found in the last three years that the rush hour gets earlier and earlier, and lasts for about three hours."

Cheryl Fairhurst

"Try getting off Castlebeck past the traffic lights at the bottom of Prince of Wales Road about 7:30am. A two minute journey can take 25 minutes. The traffic lights only let about three cars through at a time.

"It's got worse over the past couple of months. I've never known it this bad."

James Pulfrey

"The main roads are so badly designed. Once I get onto Penistone Road at Hillsborough it's something like 37 sets of traffic lights before I get to the Parkway.

"Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester all have expressways with no lights - just slip roads on and off. You never stop, just fly straight through."

David Buckley

"Handsworth and Sheffield Parkway have been a nightmare since the Waverley estate was built, with a massive increase in congestion on all the roads around there.

"Local authorities continue to allow massive building projects but don't seem to care about the misery caused by gridlocked roads, long commutes to travel short distances or the impact on the local economy or pollution.

"I'm not looking forward to the impact of Gulliver's Kingdom on the A57 near Aston either."

Colin Walker

"It takes me less time to get to Chesterfield from Heeley than it takes my wife to get into town during rush hour. Years of random town planning and cuts in public transport are to blame."