Trunk A-road

A45 traffic and collisions

The A45 is a trunk A-road of 74.0 miles, from North Northamptonshire to Birmingham. This page covers its traffic at 44 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
44 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 1.0bn vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 37,564 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 99,419 A43 to A428/A5095
  • HGV share 6.6% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −5.7% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 728 15.3 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A45?

On an average day in 2025, 37,564 vehicles passed each point on the A45, counting both directions. The busiest section is A43 to A428/A5095 (West Northamptonshire), with 99,419 a day; the quietest listed is A425 to A361, with 8,656.

Busiest sections, 2025

A43 to A428/A5095 carries 2.6 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A45 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A43 to A428/A5095 West Northamptonshire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 5.4% 99,419
A508/A5076 to A428/AA5095 West Northamptonshire · 1.6 mi · HGVs 6.7% 87,779
A46 to A444 Coventry · 2.7 mi · HGVs 7.1% 81,157
A5076 to A43 West Northamptonshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 5.8% 70,321
A45/A5076 to London Road slips (mid-junction) West Northamptonshire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 8.3% 67,807
London Road slips (mid-junction) to M1 West Northamptonshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 8.7% 59,523
A509 to A5076 North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire · 6.2 mi · HGVs 6.4% 55,027
B573 to A509 North Northamptonshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 5.7% 54,342
A45 spur to A5001 to A509 North Northamptonshire · 2.1 mi · HGVs 5.1% 52,497
A509 to B573 North Northamptonshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 5.5% 50,557

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

North Northamptonshire to Birmingham · 74.0 miles

North Northamptonshire Birmingham
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

A45 traffic and collisions by section

35 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 2 short link roads and spurs (0.2 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 35 sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A45 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A6(T) to A14(T)North Northamptonshire6.228,3648.4%+13.7%4314.8
2A6 to A5028North Northamptonshire1.738,4517.3%+17.4%1917.0
3A5028 to A45 spur to A5001North Northamptonshire1.238,5656.6%+14.8%9
4A45 spur to A5001 to A509North Northamptonshire2.152,4975.1%−9.8%157.8
5A509 to B573North Northamptonshire0.550,5575.5%+9.4%1022.3
6B573 to A509North Northamptonshire0.754,3425.7%+3.2%6
7A509 to A5076North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire6.255,0276.4%498.3
8A5076 to A43West Northamptonshire1.270,3215.8%−2.6%106.8
9A43 to A428/A5095West Northamptonshire1.799,4195.4%−0.6%3612.1
10A508/A5076 to A428/AA5095West Northamptonshire1.687,7796.7%−10.0%4517.0
11A45/A5076 to London Road slips (mid-junction)West Northamptonshire0.967,8078.3%+8.4%1312.9
12London Road slips (mid-junction) to M1West Northamptonshire1.259,5238.7%+7.8%2016.9
13M1 Junction 16 to Roundabout where A5/A45 meet, North of Weedon Bec, NorthamptonshireWest Northamptonshire3.611,0439.1%−37.5%2332.9
14Roundabout where A5/A45 meet, North of Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire to Roundabout where A45 London Road, B4038 and A45 Stefen Way meetWest Northamptonshire3.517,6126.0%+18.7%2724.9
15A361 to A425West Northamptonshire0.911,6776.2%+1.2%4
16A425 to A361West Northamptonshire0.88,6568.6%fewer than 3
17Roundabout A45 Stefen Way/Browns Road to A4256/A45 Braunston Road JunctionWest Northamptonshire0.99,1958.4%fewer than 3
18A425 to A361West Northamptonshire0.715,0875.0%+1.0%0
19A361 to M45West Northamptonshire, Warwickshire6.410,1025.1%+8.3%2019.2
20M45 to A4071Warwickshire1.127,79110.5%+0.4%8
21A4071 to A445Warwickshire4.133,9278.1%−1.5%177.7
22A445 to A423(T)Warwickshire1.431,1828.5%+22.6%8
23A423 to A46Warwickshire, Coventry0.644,0128.4%+1.5%5
24A46 to A444Coventry2.781,1577.1%308.8
25A444 to A429Coventry0.828,6294.8%−2.7%3
26A429 to A444Coventry1.431,5374.7%1380.7
27A429 to B4101Coventry1.842,2014.3%1968.5
28B4101 to A4114Coventry1.725,7536.3%23143.9
29A4114 to B4102Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire4.429,8698.4%−34.6%166.6
30B4102 to A452Solihull, Warwickshire1.437,0936.8%−25.3%6
31A452 to M42Solihull1.243,8895.0%−22.7%4
32M42 to B4438Solihull0.947,6244.0%−28.6%1214.5
33B4438 to Council boundarySolihull1.939,4868.3%1510.8
34A4540Birmingham2.943,6203.9%8438.9
35A4540 to A4040Birmingham3.534,6805.1%111250.5

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A45 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.

A45 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 78.1% of the vehicle miles on the A45. HGVs account for 6.6%, rising to 10.5% on M45 to A4071.

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 A45, by year
Year HGV share
2000 7.0%
2001 6.9%
2002 7.1%
2003 7.3%
2004 7.9%
2005 7.4%
2006 7.1%
2007 7.0%
2008 6.9%
2009 6.3%
2010 6.2%
2011 6.3%
2012 6.4%
2013 6.3%
2014 6.4%
2015 6.6%
2016 6.4%
2017 6.7%
2018 6.5%
2019 6.5%
2020 8.3%
2021 8.6%
2022 7.7%
2023 7.3%
2024 7.0%
2025 6.6%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A45 traffic trend

Traffic on the A45 came to 1.01 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 5.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 2.9% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 27.2% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A45 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 815m
2001 843m
2002 915m
2003 933m
2004 973m
2005 927m
2006 930m
2007 938m
2008 899m
2009 907m
2010 891m
2011 891m
2012 896m
2013 895m
2014 924m
2015 962m
2016 982m
2017 1.0bn
2018 1.0bn
2019 1.0bn
2020 758m
2021 837m
2022 937m
2023 966m
2024 1.0bn
2025 1.0bn

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A45, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 30,127
2001 31,158
2002 33,575
2003 34,201
2004 35,699
2005 33,986
2006 34,116
2007 34,389
2008 33,069
2009 33,366
2010 32,776
2011 32,617
2012 32,801
2013 33,090
2014 34,170
2015 35,382
2016 36,362
2017 36,591
2018 37,017
2019 38,586
2020 28,949
2021 31,173
2022 34,965
2023 36,054
2024 37,485
2025 37,564

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 (67.8% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 19 of the 44 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A45 collisions

Police recorded 728 collisions with the A45 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 146 of them fatal or serious, including 28 fatal. That is 15.3 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 2.0 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 31.9% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A45 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 9719
2022 12722
2023 11832
2024 12337
2025 11637

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 A45, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A4540 to A4040 Birmingham · 111 collisions 250.5
B4101 to A4114 Coventry · 23 collisions 143.9
A429 to A444 Coventry · 13 collisions 80.7
A429 to B4101 Coventry · 19 collisions 68.5
A4540 Birmingham · 84 collisions 38.9
M1 Junction 16 to Roundabout where A5/A45 meet, North of Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire · 23 collisions 32.9
Roundabout where A5/A45 meet, North of Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire to Roundabout where A45 London Road, B4038 and A45 Stefen Way meet West Northamptonshire · 27 collisions 24.9
A509 to B573 North Northamptonshire · 10 collisions 22.3

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

A further 134 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A45 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 A45

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

  • North Northamptonshire
  • West Northamptonshire
  • Warwickshire
  • Coventry
  • Solihull
  • Birmingham

Planned closures on the A45 in England

National Highways has 22 planned closures on the A45 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 17 of them starting in that period. 4 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 16 start between 7pm and 6am.

  • Carriageway A45 northbound Wellingborough entry slip road closure

    16 Sept 20:00 to 22 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip Lane closure northbound

    16 Sept 20:00 to 19 Sept 05:00 Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip Entry slip road lane closure northbound

    16 Sept 21:00 to 17 Sept 05:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip Exit slip road lane closure northbound

    16 Sept 21:00 to 17 Sept 05:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Carriageway A45 southbound Wellingborough exit slip road closure

    17 Sept 20:00 to 18 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Carriageway A45 southbound Barnes Meadow mini exit slip road closure

    21 Sept 20:00 to 23 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip Lane 2,3 closure southbound

    21 Sept 20:00 to 23 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip Lane closure southbound

    22 Sept 20:00 to 23 Sept 06:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

14 more planned closures in this period are not shown.

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

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 44 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 728 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.

Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds