Trunk A-road
A16 traffic and collisions
The A16 is a trunk A-road of 79.0 miles, from Peterborough to North East Lincolnshire. This page covers its traffic at 25 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 400m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 13,856 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 24,174 A151 to A152
- HGV share 8.0% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +6.9% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 560 30.0 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A16?
On an average day in 2025, 13,856 vehicles passed each point on the A16, counting both directions. The busiest section is A151 to A152 (Lincolnshire), with 24,174 a day; the quietest listed is A158 to A1028, with 6,105.
Busiest sections, 2025
A151 to A152 carries 1.7 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A151 to A152 Lincolnshire · 3.6 mi · HGVs 12.9% | 24,174 |
| A1243 to A1098 North East Lincolnshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 22,838 |
| A1138 to A1137 Lincolnshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.6% | 21,572 |
| A1137 to A52 Lincolnshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 5.3% | 20,991 |
| A17 to A52 Lincolnshire · 6.6 mi · HGVs 6.3% | 20,542 |
| A47 to A16 Peterborough, Lincolnshire · 13.4 mi · HGVs 10.8% | 18,266 |
| B1520 to A18 Lincolnshire · 4.2 mi · HGVs 5.6% | 17,833 |
| A1098 to A46 North East Lincolnshire · 1.6 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 17,594 |
| A152 to A17 Lincolnshire · 3.5 mi · HGVs 10.2% | 16,930 |
| A16 to A151 Lincolnshire · 3.2 mi · HGVs 14.2% | 16,361 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Peterborough to North East Lincolnshire · 79.0 miles
A16 traffic and collisions by section
23 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.
Show all 23 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A47 to A16Peterborough, Lincolnshire | 18,266 | 56 |
| 2 | A16 to A151Lincolnshire | 16,361 | 12 |
| 3 | A151 to A152Lincolnshire | 24,174 | 18 |
| 4 | A152 to A17Lincolnshire | 16,930 | 24 |
| 5 | A17 to A52Lincolnshire | 20,542 | 90 |
| 6 | A52 to A1138Lincolnshire | 42,107 | 4 |
| 7 | A1138 to A1137Lincolnshire | 21,572 | 10 |
| 8 | A1137 to A52Lincolnshire | 20,991 | 13 |
| 9 | A52 to A155Lincolnshire | 6,401 | 62 |
| 10 | A155 to B1195Lincolnshire | 11,502 | 9 |
| 11 | B1195 to A158Lincolnshire | 8,811 | 5 |
| 12 | A158 to A1028Lincolnshire | 6,105 | 8 |
| 13 | A1104 to A157Lincolnshire | 7,632 | 41 |
| 14 | A157 to A153Lincolnshire | 9,158 | 8 |
| 15 | A153 to A157Lincolnshire | 13,392 | 5 |
| 16 | A157 to B1520Lincolnshire | 12,280 | 3 |
| 17 | B1520 to A18Lincolnshire | 17,833 | 28 |
| 18 | A18 to B1219Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire | 12,247 | 57 |
| 19 | B1219 to A1243North East Lincolnshire | 22,744 | 5 |
| 20 | A1243 to A1098North East Lincolnshire | 22,838 | 7 |
| 21 | A1098 to A46North East Lincolnshire | 17,594 | 8 |
| 22 | A46 to Fred Ward WayNorth East Lincolnshire | 15,471 | 13 |
| 23 | A1136 to A180(T)North East Lincolnshire | 15,919 | 15 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A16 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.
A16 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 73.1% of the vehicle miles on the A16. HGVs account for 8.0%, rising to 14.2% on A16 to A151.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 8.9% |
| 2001 | 8.3% |
| 2002 | 8.2% |
| 2003 | 7.9% |
| 2004 | 8.2% |
| 2005 | 8.6% |
| 2006 | 9.3% |
| 2007 | 9.6% |
| 2008 | 9.5% |
| 2009 | 8.8% |
| 2010 | 8.6% |
| 2011 | 8.3% |
| 2012 | 8.4% |
| 2013 | 8.7% |
| 2014 | 8.5% |
| 2015 | 9.1% |
| 2016 | 8.7% |
| 2017 | 8.9% |
| 2018 | 8.8% |
| 2019 | 8.8% |
| 2020 | 10.3% |
| 2021 | 9.8% |
| 2022 | 9.1% |
| 2023 | 8.5% |
| 2024 | 8.3% |
| 2025 | 8.0% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A16 traffic trend
Traffic on the A16 came to 400 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 6.9% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 18.4% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 35.5% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 285m |
| 2001 | 292m |
| 2002 | 282m |
| 2003 | 311m |
| 2004 | 318m |
| 2005 | 305m |
| 2006 | 331m |
| 2007 | 336m |
| 2008 | 316m |
| 2009 | 317m |
| 2010 | 317m |
| 2011 | 323m |
| 2012 | 363m |
| 2013 | 375m |
| 2014 | 379m |
| 2015 | 338m |
| 2016 | 341m |
| 2017 | 355m |
| 2018 | 370m |
| 2019 | 375m |
| 2020 | 284m |
| 2021 | 325m |
| 2022 | 367m |
| 2023 | 385m |
| 2024 | 391m |
| 2025 | 400m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 9,369 |
| 2001 | 9,615 |
| 2002 | 9,286 |
| 2003 | 10,255 |
| 2004 | 10,468 |
| 2005 | 10,046 |
| 2006 | 10,886 |
| 2007 | 11,086 |
| 2008 | 10,427 |
| 2009 | 10,458 |
| 2010 | 10,467 |
| 2011 | 10,657 |
| 2012 | 10,325 |
| 2013 | 10,666 |
| 2014 | 10,794 |
| 2015 | 11,740 |
| 2016 | 11,845 |
| 2017 | 12,312 |
| 2018 | 12,772 |
| 2019 | 12,955 |
| 2020 | 9,782 |
| 2021 | 11,208 |
| 2022 | 12,659 |
| 2023 | 13,290 |
| 2024 | 13,501 |
| 2025 | 13,856 |
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 (76.2% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 5 of the 25 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A16 collisions
Police recorded 560 collisions with the A16 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 190 of them fatal or serious, including 28 fatal. That is 30.0 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.4 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 17.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 73 | 44 |
| 2022 | 80 | 48 |
| 2023 | 80 | 28 |
| 2024 | 68 | 42 |
| 2025 | 69 | 28 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A52 to A155 Lincolnshire · 62 collisions | 217.5 |
| A1136 to A180(T) North East Lincolnshire · 15 collisions | 106.5 |
| A1137 to A52 Lincolnshire · 13 collisions | 47.8 |
| A1138 to A1137 Lincolnshire · 10 collisions | 43.9 |
| A46 to Fred Ward Way North East Lincolnshire · 13 collisions | 43.7 |
| A18 to B1219 Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire · 57 collisions | 42.1 |
| A17 to A52 Lincolnshire · 90 collisions | 40.0 |
| A1104 to A157 Lincolnshire · 41 collisions | 34.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 55 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A16 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 89.5% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A16
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Peterborough
- Lincolnshire
- North East Lincolnshire
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 | 25 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 560 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.