Trunk A-road
A120 traffic and collisions
The A120 is a trunk A-road of 58.4 miles, from Hertfordshire to Essex. This page covers its traffic at 20 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 632m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 29,660 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 75,722 A120 to M11 Junction 8
- HGV share 6.3% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +0.3% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 344 11.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A120?
On an average day in 2025, 29,660 vehicles passed each point on the A120, counting both directions. The busiest section is A120 to M11 Junction 8 (Essex), with 75,722 a day; the quietest listed is Count point 92005, with 3,951.
Busiest sections, 2025
A120 to M11 Junction 8 carries 2.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A120 to M11 Junction 8 Essex · 1.9 mi · HGVs 10.6% | 75,722 |
| At A120 Essex · 3.8 mi · HGVs 5.2% | 52,099 |
| B1256 to A130 Essex · 2.5 mi · HGVs 6.3% | 46,949 |
| A1232 to A133 Essex · 5.3 mi · HGVs 6.2% | 42,810 |
| A131 to B1256 Essex · 3.2 mi · HGVs 5.0% | 38,592 |
| A12 to A1232 Essex · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.8% | 36,703 |
| M11 Junction 8 to A120 Essex · 0.9 mi · HGVs 5.1% | 36,401 |
| A130 to A131 Essex · 7.3 mi · HGVs 7.0% | 36,193 |
| B1256 to B1024 Essex · 5.1 mi · HGVs 5.6% | 26,052 |
| B1024 to A12 Essex · 4.2 mi · HGVs 7.0% | 22,985 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Hertfordshire to Essex · 58.4 miles
A120 traffic and collisions by section
19 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.
Show all 19 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Near Puckeridge, Hertfordshire to Roundabout A120/A1184 (East of Bishop's Stortford)Hertfordshire | 18,775 | 34 |
| 2 | A1184 / A250 to B1383Hertfordshire, Essex | 19,379 | 16 |
| 3 | B1383 to A1250Essex | 22,850 | 16 |
| 4 | A1250 to M11 Junction 8Essex | 36,834 | 12 |
| 5 | M11 Junction 8 to A120Essex | 36,401 | 13 |
| 6 | A120 to M11 Junction 8Essex | 75,722 | 7 |
| 7 | At A120Essex | 52,099 | 12 |
| 8 | B1256 to A130Essex | 46,949 | 9 |
| 9 | A130 to A131Essex | 36,193 | 16 |
| 10 | A131 to B1256Essex | 38,592 | 46 |
| 11 | B1256 to B1024Essex | 26,052 | 53 |
| 12 | B1024 to A12Essex | 22,985 | 51 |
| 13 | A12 to A1232Essex | 36,703 | 5 |
| 14 | A1232 to A133Essex | 42,810 | 17 |
| 15 | A133 to B1035Essex | 15,528 | 6 |
| 16 | B1035 to B1352Essex | 14,948 | 22 |
| 17 | B1352 to A136Essex | 10,256 | 4 |
| 18 | A136Essex | 13,423 | 4 |
| 19 | Count point 92005Essex | 3,951 | fewer than 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A120 as the first road, placed on the nearest section by their recorded position; rates (per 100 million vehicle miles) are shown for sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more.
A120 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 73.5% of the vehicle miles on the A120. HGVs account for 6.3%, rising to 14.0% on B1352 to A136.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 7.5% |
| 2001 | 7.0% |
| 2002 | 8.1% |
| 2003 | 8.5% |
| 2004 | 8.2% |
| 2005 | 8.0% |
| 2006 | 8.1% |
| 2007 | 8.0% |
| 2008 | 7.4% |
| 2009 | 6.7% |
| 2010 | 6.8% |
| 2011 | 6.6% |
| 2012 | 6.3% |
| 2013 | 6.2% |
| 2014 | 6.6% |
| 2015 | 6.7% |
| 2016 | 6.8% |
| 2017 | 6.4% |
| 2018 | 6.5% |
| 2019 | 6.2% |
| 2020 | 7.4% |
| 2021 | 7.2% |
| 2022 | 6.4% |
| 2023 | 6.7% |
| 2024 | 6.5% |
| 2025 | 6.3% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A120 traffic trend
Traffic on the A120 came to 632 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is about the same as in 2019, before the pandemic, and up 16.3% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 44.0% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 381m |
| 2001 | 391m |
| 2002 | 391m |
| 2003 | 401m |
| 2004 | 430m |
| 2005 | 452m |
| 2006 | 469m |
| 2007 | 514m |
| 2008 | 510m |
| 2009 | 512m |
| 2010 | 510m |
| 2011 | 507m |
| 2012 | 513m |
| 2013 | 515m |
| 2014 | 507m |
| 2015 | 558m |
| 2016 | 577m |
| 2017 | 579m |
| 2018 | 594m |
| 2019 | 621m |
| 2020 | 447m |
| 2021 | 510m |
| 2022 | 586m |
| 2023 | 586m |
| 2024 | 618m |
| 2025 | 632m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 18,768 |
| 2001 | 19,277 |
| 2002 | 19,244 |
| 2003 | 19,765 |
| 2004 | 21,165 |
| 2005 | 21,977 |
| 2006 | 22,793 |
| 2007 | 24,953 |
| 2008 | 24,788 |
| 2009 | 24,859 |
| 2010 | 24,766 |
| 2011 | 24,643 |
| 2012 | 24,927 |
| 2013 | 25,033 |
| 2014 | 24,644 |
| 2015 | 27,119 |
| 2016 | 28,013 |
| 2017 | 28,201 |
| 2018 | 28,226 |
| 2019 | 29,494 |
| 2020 | 21,137 |
| 2021 | 24,118 |
| 2022 | 27,339 |
| 2023 | 27,358 |
| 2024 | 28,833 |
| 2025 | 29,660 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
The chart counts the whole road as it was each year, so new or renumbered stretches move it. The percentage changes compare only count points present in both years (82.4% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 7 of the 20 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A120 collisions
Police recorded 344 collisions with the A120 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 87 of them fatal or serious, including 14 fatal. That is 11.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.2 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 22.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | 16 |
| 2022 | 64 | 18 |
| 2023 | 36 | 18 |
| 2024 | 52 | 19 |
| 2025 | 44 | 16 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Sections with the highest collision rates
Per 100 million vehicle miles, 2021 to 2025. Sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more collisions.
| Section | Per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| B1383 to A1250 Essex · 16 collisions | 147.6 |
| B1024 to A12 Essex · 51 collisions | 30.2 |
| M11 Junction 8 to A120 Essex · 13 collisions | 24.6 |
| B1256 to B1024 Essex · 53 collisions | 24.5 |
| Near Puckeridge, Hertfordshire to Roundabout A120/A1184 (East of Bishop's Stortford) Hertfordshire · 34 collisions | 21.3 |
| A1184 / A250 to B1383 Hertfordshire, Essex · 16 collisions | 21.1 |
| A131 to B1256 Essex · 46 collisions | 20.7 |
| B1035 to B1352 Essex · 22 collisions | 13.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 28 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A120 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A120
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Hertfordshire
- Essex
Planned closures on the A120 in England
National Highways has 5 planned closures on the A120 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, all of them starting in that period. 1 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 5 start between 7pm and 6am.
-
Lane or slip A120 both directions Braintree to Marks Tey mobile lane closures
-
Lane or slip A120 both directions Crown Interchange to Hare Green mobile lane closures
-
Carriageway A120 westbound Crown Interchange exit slip carriageway closure
-
Lane or slip A120 eastbound Coggeshall Road to Marks Tey Interchange lane closure
-
Lane or slip A120 both directions Crown Interchange to Hare Green mobile lane closures
Planned closures only: National Highways can cancel or change them, and closures caused by incidents are not shown. Council roads in England are not covered. Roadworks and closures across the UK
Source:National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 Updated
Data sources and methodology
| Figures | Source | Period | Records | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic counts and vehicle mix | Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2000 to 2025 | 20 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 344 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Planned closures | Transport Data Feeds (DATEX II) National Highways | 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 | 2,304 planned closure schemes | 16 September 2026 |
- Annual average daily flow (AADF) is the average number of vehicles passing a point on a typical day of the year, both directions combined.
- Vehicle miles are AADF multiplied by link length and 365, summed over every count point link on the road.
- Sections join count point links between junctions, using the link lines in DfT’s major road database.
- STATS19 covers personal injury collisions reported to the police. Damage-only collisions are not included, and not every injury collision is reported.
- Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates, which allow for police forces moving to injury-based reporting.
- Counts of one or two collisions below Great Britain level are shown as “fewer than 3”.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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