Hello, just trying to gauge a commute…

At 8am Ashbourne to Stoke-on-Trent (specifically the hospital) takes an hour according to the Direct.gov journey planner and 35 minutes according to my SatNav (which knows nothing about traffic levels).

Anyone do a journey into Stoke-on-Trent at this time of day to suggest which of these two measures might be the closest? Both suggest going down to the A50 then across rather than the A52 which is shorter in distance terms but doubtless slower…

TIA all.

at 8:00 the hour is more accurate. which bit of stoke? I might be able to offer some short cuts that avoid the worst of the traffic

Cheers tazzy, as per the OP, she'll need to get to the hospital…

Google Maps linky

unfortunately whichever route you take is going to have problems at that time. A50 will be the fastest coming into stoke but the A500 can be a pain. Aim to get there early, not just because of the traffic but because the parking is a bloomin nightmare at north staffs It can take at least 15 mins to find a space and we've got about 2-3 inches of snow so far as well.

Hmmm, not what I wanted to hear but to be expected I guess.

This is all hypothetical of course and the Ashbourne start point is not set in stone (far from it). Another option that is fairly equidistant from Ashbourne/Stoke seems to be Leek – although Direct.gov is still saying an hour to get from there to Stoke at rush hour!

Any thoughts on Leek?

thanks!

The snow here adjacent to the A50 is bad at the moment, but Leek will be worse. Avoid at all costs. The best root is the one suggested, A50/A500/A34.The time of 8am to 9am can be slow going as you get towards the A500 but it soon clears and as tazzymtb has said, the parking there is awful so allow extra to find a space.

B5030 to the A50 (fewer slow lorries than the A515).

It'll take about an hour with the traffic. The A52 can be slow – particularly down Ash Bank and Leek Road.

Leek likes the snow & the Endon road is no better.

I'd say from centre of Leek to the Uni Hospital is 45 mins to arrive for 8 AM. If you set off from Leek at 7, at least until you've experience of the journey, you'd make it before 8. If I was aiming to travel from Ashbourne I'd look to start out 6:40 to begin with.

As mentioned problem then could well be finding a parking spot.

I would go A50 to the Britannia and then past the Michelin (campbell road) and skirt round Stoke through Penkhull to the hospital- traffic wont be too horrendous- avoid A34 as the school run really slows it all down

Cheers all. Another option is Uttoxeter which, despite having a horrible sounding name*, would be convenient for both Ashbourne and Stoke… Any thoughts on Uttoxeter anyone??

*in my head anyway 😉

You could consider Tean/Forsbrook/Blythe Bridge. Sort of outskirts of Stoke and should be 30-40 mins to Ashbourne centre. And about the same to the hospital. Nice areas IMHO and probably nicer than Uttoxeter.