A-road
A4051 traffic and collisions
The A4051 is an A-road of 7.3 miles, from Newport to Torfaen. This page covers its traffic at 6 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 74m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 27,722 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 36,595 M4 Junction 26 to A4042
- HGV share 1.8% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.4% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 56 16.3 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A4051?
On an average day in 2025, 27,722 vehicles passed each point on the A4051, counting both directions. The busiest section is M4 Junction 26 to A4042 (Newport, Torfaen), with 36,595 a day; the quietest listed is A4042 Llantarnam to Hollybush Way, Cwmbran, with 23,662.
Busiest sections, 2025
M4 Junction 26 to A4042 carries 1.3 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| M4 Junction 26 to A4042 Newport, Torfaen · 1.7 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 36,595 |
| Hollybush Way, Cwmbran to A4042 Pontypool Torfaen · 3.7 mi · HGVs 1.5% | 24,890 |
| M4 Junction 26 Newport · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 24,480 |
| A4042 Llantarnam to Hollybush Way, Cwmbran Torfaen · 1.0 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 23,662 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Newport to Torfaen · 7.3 miles
A4051 traffic and collisions by section
4 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.3 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M4 Junction 26Newport | 24,480 | 7 |
| 2 | M4 Junction 26 to A4042Newport, Torfaen | 36,595 | 22 |
| 3 | A4042 Llantarnam to Hollybush Way, CwmbranTorfaen | 23,662 | 5 |
| 4 | Hollybush Way, Cwmbran to A4042 PontypoolTorfaen | 24,890 | 22 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A4051 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.
A4051 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 82.9% of the vehicle miles on the A4051. HGVs account for 1.8%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.0% |
| 2001 | 2.8% |
| 2002 | 2.7% |
| 2003 | 2.7% |
| 2004 | 2.7% |
| 2005 | 2.3% |
| 2006 | 2.4% |
| 2007 | 2.5% |
| 2008 | 2.1% |
| 2009 | 2.1% |
| 2010 | 2.0% |
| 2011 | 2.2% |
| 2012 | 1.9% |
| 2013 | 1.9% |
| 2014 | 2.0% |
| 2015 | 2.0% |
| 2016 | 1.8% |
| 2017 | 1.7% |
| 2018 | 1.8% |
| 2019 | 1.9% |
| 2020 | 2.1% |
| 2021 | 2.1% |
| 2022 | 2.0% |
| 2023 | 1.8% |
| 2024 | 1.8% |
| 2025 | 1.8% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A4051 traffic trend
Traffic on the A4051 came to 73.9 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 0.7% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 4.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 56m |
| 2001 | 56m |
| 2002 | 58m |
| 2003 | 57m |
| 2004 | 58m |
| 2005 | 65m |
| 2006 | 67m |
| 2007 | 68m |
| 2008 | 66m |
| 2009 | 66m |
| 2010 | 64m |
| 2011 | 64m |
| 2012 | 61m |
| 2013 | 58m |
| 2014 | 60m |
| 2015 | 59m |
| 2016 | 63m |
| 2017 | 63m |
| 2018 | 74m |
| 2019 | 76m |
| 2020 | 57m |
| 2021 | 63m |
| 2022 | 68m |
| 2023 | 69m |
| 2024 | 71m |
| 2025 | 74m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 23,698 |
| 2001 | 23,726 |
| 2002 | 24,307 |
| 2003 | 23,924 |
| 2004 | 24,325 |
| 2005 | 27,356 |
| 2006 | 28,030 |
| 2007 | 28,583 |
| 2008 | 27,769 |
| 2009 | 27,661 |
| 2010 | 27,067 |
| 2011 | 27,081 |
| 2012 | 25,566 |
| 2013 | 24,549 |
| 2014 | 25,067 |
| 2015 | 25,033 |
| 2016 | 26,513 |
| 2017 | 26,596 |
| 2018 | 29,310 |
| 2019 | 28,760 |
| 2020 | 22,404 |
| 2021 | 24,622 |
| 2022 | 26,401 |
| 2023 | 27,181 |
| 2024 | 27,580 |
| 2025 | 27,722 |
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 (41.1% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 6 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A4051 collisions
Police recorded 56 collisions with the A4051 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 16.3 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.5 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 30.8% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 12 |
| 2023 | 10 |
| 2024 | 12 |
| 2025 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|
| Hollybush Way, Cwmbran to A4042 Pontypool Torfaen · 22 collisions | 65.5 |
| M4 Junction 26 to A4042 Newport, Torfaen · 22 collisions | 20.0 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 9 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A4051 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 A4051
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Newport
- Torfaen
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 | 6 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 56 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.