I run a 44T with an 11-32 for road riding. It's fine around here on flat roads and small rollers, I have no problem keeping up with the group road rides that I do. This gearing would suck for big climbs, but I never see those.
This is on a CX bike with road tires (I have two wheelsets) - I'm not going to race crits or win any bunch sprints with this setup, but for the group and solo riding I do it's fine.

I prefer to run a 40T for CX racing, so I do some 'ring swapping depending on the time of year. 40T is fine for solo road, but a bit too small for group rides. I can still manage, but it's not ideal. 46T would be perfect for road riding, but this size is likely too big to swap with a 40T without adjusting chain length.