A-road

A347 traffic and collisions

The A347 is an A-road of 7.0 miles, from Dorset to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. This page covers its traffic at 8 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
8 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 45m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 17,442 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 26,331 A341 Northbourne Roundabout to A3060 Redhill Roundabout
  • HGV share 0.9% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −9.4% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 124 58.2 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A347?

On an average day in 2025, 17,442 vehicles passed each point on the A347, counting both directions. The busiest section is A341 Northbourne Roundabout to A3060 Redhill Roundabout (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole), with 26,331 a day; the quietest listed is B3073 Parley Cross to A348 Penny's Hill Junction, with 10,298.

Busiest sections, 2025

A341 Northbourne Roundabout to A3060 Redhill Roundabout carries 1.5 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A347 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A341 Northbourne Roundabout to A3060 Redhill Roundabout Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 0.7 mi · HGVs 0.8% 26,331
A3049 Talbot Road Roundabout to B3063/4 Crossroads Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 0.9 mi · HGVs 0.8% 25,657
B3073 to A341 Northbourne Roundabout Dorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.0% 19,431
A3060 Redhill Roundabout to A3049 Talbot Road (roundabout) Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 1.9 mi · HGVs 0.8% 16,168
B3063/4 Crossroads to A338 Richmond Hill Roundabout Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 0.7 mi · HGVs 0.7% 15,674
B3073 Parley Cross to A348 Penny's Hill Junction Dorset · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.0% 10,298

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Dorset to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 7.0 miles

Dorset Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

A347 traffic and collisions by section

6 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
Sections of the A347 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1B3073 Parley Cross to A348 Penny's Hill JunctionDorset1.710,2981.0%−37.4%1755.0
2B3073 to A341 Northbourne RoundaboutDorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole1.119,4311.0%−11.2%1744.7
3A341 Northbourne Roundabout to A3060 Redhill RoundaboutBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole0.726,3310.8%−2.4%1442.5
4A3060 Redhill Roundabout to A3049 Talbot Road (roundabout)Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole1.916,1680.8%−5.2%3055.3
5A3049 Talbot Road Roundabout to B3063/4 CrossroadsBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole0.925,6570.8%+14.4%2976.4
6B3063/4 Crossroads to A338 Richmond Hill RoundaboutBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole0.715,6740.7%−2.2%1789.4

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A347 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.

A347 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 82.9% of the vehicle miles on the A347. HGVs account for 0.9%.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the A347, by year
Year HGV share
2000 1.4%
2001 1.4%
2002 1.4%
2003 1.4%
2004 1.5%
2005 1.4%
2006 1.3%
2007 1.2%
2008 1.2%
2009 1.1%
2010 1.1%
2011 1.2%
2012 1.1%
2013 1.1%
2014 1.1%
2015 1.1%
2016 1.1%
2017 1.0%
2018 1.0%
2019 1.0%
2020 1.2%
2021 1.1%
2022 0.9%
2023 0.9%
2024 0.9%
2025 0.9%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A347 traffic trend

Traffic on the A347 came to 44.6 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 9.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 9.7% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 1.9% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A347 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 44m
2001 43m
2002 43m
2003 43m
2004 44m
2005 44m
2006 46m
2007 48m
2008 48m
2009 47m
2010 47m
2011 47m
2012 46m
2013 47m
2014 48m
2015 49m
2016 49m
2017 48m
2018 49m
2019 49m
2020 39m
2021 40m
2022 42m
2023 43m
2024 44m
2025 45m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A347, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 17,769
2001 17,245
2002 17,159
2003 17,196
2004 17,736
2005 17,749
2006 18,353
2007 18,950
2008 18,899
2009 18,563
2010 18,458
2011 18,540
2012 18,422
2013 18,749
2014 19,126
2015 19,353
2016 19,287
2017 19,218
2018 19,115
2019 19,250
2020 15,329
2021 15,674
2022 16,337
2023 16,650
2024 17,336
2025 17,442

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 8 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A347 collisions

Police recorded 124 collisions with the A347 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 28 of them fatal or serious. That is 58.2 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 3.5 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 18.5% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A347 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 225
2022 196
2023 246
2024 155
2025 157

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.

Collisions per 100 million vehicle miles by section of the A347, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
B3063/4 Crossroads to A338 Richmond Hill Roundabout Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 17 collisions 89.4
A3049 Talbot Road Roundabout to B3063/4 Crossroads Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 29 collisions 76.4
A3060 Redhill Roundabout to A3049 Talbot Road (roundabout) Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 30 collisions 55.3
B3073 Parley Cross to A348 Penny's Hill Junction Dorset · 17 collisions 55.0
B3073 to A341 Northbourne Roundabout Dorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 17 collisions 44.7
A341 Northbourne Roundabout to A3060 Redhill Roundabout Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 14 collisions 42.5

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

A further 19 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A347 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 100.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A347

In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.

  • Dorset
  • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
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 8 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 124 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.