A-road
A146 traffic and collisions
The A146 is an A-road of 25.2 miles, from Norfolk to Suffolk. This page covers its traffic at 10 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 184m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 20,019 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 36,648 A1054 to A47
- HGV share 3.1% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.3% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 154 18.5 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A146?
On an average day in 2025, 20,019 vehicles passed each point on the A146, counting both directions. The busiest section is A1054 to A47 (Norfolk), with 36,648 a day; the quietest listed is B1384 to A1117, with 11,921.
Busiest sections, 2025
A1054 to A47 carries 1.8 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A1054 to A47 Norfolk · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.5% | 36,648 |
| A143 to Roundabout with A145 and A146 (near Appletree Cottage) Norfolk, Suffolk · 3.8 mi · HGVs 3.5% | 27,200 |
| A146 to A1144 Suffolk · 1.5 mi · HGVs 1.3% | 21,636 |
| B1332 to B1136 Norfolk · 9.9 mi · HGVs 3.5% | 19,528 |
| Roundabout with A145 and A146 (near Appletree Cottage) to Roundabout A146 and A1145 (near Carlton Colville, Suffolk) Suffolk · 3.4 mi · HGVs 2.7% | 18,440 |
| A1056 to A1054 Norfolk · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.4% | 15,013 |
| B1136 to A143 Norfolk · 3.0 mi · HGVs 5.0% | 13,632 |
| B1384 to A1117 Suffolk · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 11,921 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Norfolk to Suffolk · 25.2 miles
A146 traffic and collisions by section
9 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A1056 to A1054Norfolk | 15,013 | 20 |
| 2 | A1054 to A47Norfolk | 36,648 | 9 |
| 3 | A47 to B1332Norfolk | 37,980 | 8 |
| 4 | B1332 to B1136Norfolk | 19,528 | 48 |
| 5 | B1136 to A143Norfolk | 13,632 | 12 |
| 6 | A143 to Roundabout with A145 and A146 (near Appletree Cottage)Norfolk, Suffolk | 27,200 | 22 |
| 7 | Roundabout with A145 and A146 (near Appletree Cottage) to Roundabout A146 and A1145 (near Carlton Colville, Suffolk)Suffolk | 18,440 | 18 |
| 8 | B1384 to A1117Suffolk | 11,921 | 16 |
| 9 | A146 to A1144Suffolk | 21,636 | 0 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A146 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.
A146 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 78.8% of the vehicle miles on the A146. HGVs account for 3.1%, rising to 5.0% on B1136 to A143.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.1% |
| 2001 | 4.7% |
| 2002 | 4.9% |
| 2003 | 5.1% |
| 2004 | 4.9% |
| 2005 | 5.5% |
| 2006 | 5.0% |
| 2007 | 5.1% |
| 2008 | 4.5% |
| 2009 | 4.2% |
| 2010 | 3.8% |
| 2011 | 3.7% |
| 2012 | 3.7% |
| 2013 | 3.6% |
| 2014 | 4.2% |
| 2015 | 4.3% |
| 2016 | 4.3% |
| 2017 | 4.4% |
| 2018 | 3.7% |
| 2019 | 3.7% |
| 2020 | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 4.2% |
| 2022 | 3.5% |
| 2023 | 3.3% |
| 2024 | 3.3% |
| 2025 | 3.1% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A146 traffic trend
Traffic on the A146 came to 184 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.3% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 12.9% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 26.2% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 136m |
| 2001 | 139m |
| 2002 | 140m |
| 2003 | 144m |
| 2004 | 144m |
| 2005 | 145m |
| 2006 | 149m |
| 2007 | 141m |
| 2008 | 140m |
| 2009 | 140m |
| 2010 | 138m |
| 2011 | 138m |
| 2012 | 138m |
| 2013 | 138m |
| 2014 | 142m |
| 2015 | 146m |
| 2016 | 149m |
| 2017 | 151m |
| 2018 | 162m |
| 2019 | 175m |
| 2020 | 131m |
| 2021 | 145m |
| 2022 | 165m |
| 2023 | 168m |
| 2024 | 170m |
| 2025 | 184m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14,772 |
| 2001 | 15,075 |
| 2002 | 15,244 |
| 2003 | 15,626 |
| 2004 | 15,665 |
| 2005 | 15,785 |
| 2006 | 16,193 |
| 2007 | 15,287 |
| 2008 | 16,334 |
| 2009 | 16,344 |
| 2010 | 16,069 |
| 2011 | 16,079 |
| 2012 | 16,027 |
| 2013 | 16,134 |
| 2014 | 16,592 |
| 2015 | 16,995 |
| 2016 | 17,372 |
| 2017 | 17,554 |
| 2018 | 18,872 |
| 2019 | 20,183 |
| 2020 | 15,153 |
| 2021 | 16,742 |
| 2022 | 19,034 |
| 2023 | 19,429 |
| 2024 | 19,691 |
| 2025 | 20,019 |
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. In 2025, 0 of the 10 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A146 collisions
Police recorded 154 collisions with the A146 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 54 of them fatal or serious. That is 18.5 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
Up 26.9% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | 6 |
| 2022 | 22 | 12 |
| 2023 | 20 | 10 |
| 2024 | 19 | 12 |
| 2025 | 19 | 14 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A1056 to A1054 Norfolk · 20 collisions | 62.8 |
| B1384 to A1117 Suffolk · 16 collisions | 54.3 |
| B1136 to A143 Norfolk · 12 collisions | 16.8 |
| Roundabout with A145 and A146 (near Appletree Cottage) to Roundabout A146 and A1145 (near Carlton Colville, Suffolk) Suffolk · 18 collisions | 16.7 |
| B1332 to B1136 Norfolk · 48 collisions | 14.3 |
| A143 to Roundabout with A145 and A146 (near Appletree Cottage) Norfolk, Suffolk · 22 collisions | 12.2 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 22 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A146 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 99.4% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A146
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Norfolk
- Suffolk
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 | 10 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 154 reported collisions | 15 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.