A-road
A4500 traffic and collisions
The A4500 is an A-road of 15.3 miles, from North Northamptonshire to West Northamptonshire. This page covers its traffic at 13 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 95m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 17,052 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 23,613 A45 Upton Way roundabout to A428 Spencer Bridge Rd/Harlestone Road intersection
- HGV share 2.4% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −4.4% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 274 63.9 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A4500?
On an average day in 2025, 17,052 vehicles passed each point on the A4500, counting both directions. The busiest section is A45 Upton Way roundabout to A428 Spencer Bridge Rd/Harlestone Road intersection (West Northamptonshire), with 23,613 a day; the quietest listed is A509 to A5076, with 9,167.
Busiest sections, 2025
A45 Upton Way roundabout to A428 Spencer Bridge Rd/Harlestone Road intersection carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A45 Upton Way roundabout to A428 Spencer Bridge Rd/Harlestone Road intersection West Northamptonshire · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.6% | 23,613 |
| A45 to A45/A5123 West Northamptonshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 2.6% | 23,147 |
| M1 to A45 principal West Northamptonshire · 3.9 mi · HGVs 4.3% | 23,142 |
| A5076 to A43 West Northamptonshire · 1.3 mi · HGVs 0.3% | 17,321 |
| A5101 to A4501 West Northamptonshire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 0.5% | 16,449 |
| A43 to A5101 West Northamptonshire · 1.5 mi · HGVs 0.5% | 15,749 |
| A509 to A5076 North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire · 4.6 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 9,167 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
North Northamptonshire to West Northamptonshire · 15.3 miles
A4500 traffic and collisions by section
12 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 | A509 to A5076North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire | 9,167 | 18 |
| 2 | A5076 to A43West Northamptonshire | 17,321 | 30 |
| 3 | A43 to A5101West Northamptonshire | 15,749 | 36 |
| 4 | A5101 to A4501West Northamptonshire | 16,449 | 45 |
| 5 | A4501 to A5123West Northamptonshire | 17,135 | 16 |
| 6 | At A5123West Northamptonshire | 15,665 | 17 |
| 7 | A4500 to A428/A508West Northamptonshire | 17,516 | 31 |
| 8 | A43 to A45West Northamptonshire | 27,989 | fewer than 3 |
| 9 | A45 to A45/A5123West Northamptonshire | 23,147 | 20 |
| 10 | A45 Upton Way roundabout to A428 Spencer Bridge Rd/Harlestone Road intersectionWest Northamptonshire | 23,613 | 27 |
| 11 | A45 trunk to A45 Upton WayWest Northamptonshire | 23,142 | fewer than 3 |
| 12 | M1 to A45 principalWest Northamptonshire | 23,142 | 31 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A4500 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.
A4500 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 83.7% of the vehicle miles on the A4500. HGVs account for 2.4%, rising to 4.3% on M1 to A45 principal.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.3% |
| 2001 | 1.7% |
| 2002 | 1.6% |
| 2003 | 1.5% |
| 2004 | 1.7% |
| 2005 | 1.7% |
| 2006 | 1.4% |
| 2007 | 1.4% |
| 2008 | 1.4% |
| 2009 | 1.2% |
| 2010 | 1.2% |
| 2011 | 1.1% |
| 2012 | 1.1% |
| 2013 | 1.1% |
| 2014 | 1.1% |
| 2015 | 1.0% |
| 2016 | 1.0% |
| 2017 | 1.0% |
| 2018 | 1.0% |
| 2019 | 2.0% |
| 2020 | 2.4% |
| 2021 | 2.3% |
| 2022 | 2.2% |
| 2023 | 2.1% |
| 2024 | 2.3% |
| 2025 | 2.4% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A4500 traffic trend
Traffic on the A4500 came to 95.2 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 4.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 9.7% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 14.0% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 42m |
| 2001 | 41m |
| 2002 | 42m |
| 2003 | 42m |
| 2004 | 42m |
| 2005 | 41m |
| 2006 | 43m |
| 2007 | 45m |
| 2008 | 44m |
| 2009 | 44m |
| 2010 | 43m |
| 2011 | 41m |
| 2012 | 39m |
| 2013 | 39m |
| 2014 | 40m |
| 2015 | 40m |
| 2016 | 41m |
| 2017 | 41m |
| 2018 | 43m |
| 2019 | 96m |
| 2020 | 70m |
| 2021 | 77m |
| 2022 | 82m |
| 2023 | 84m |
| 2024 | 90m |
| 2025 | 95m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14,004 |
| 2001 | 13,646 |
| 2002 | 13,916 |
| 2003 | 14,085 |
| 2004 | 14,130 |
| 2005 | 13,805 |
| 2006 | 14,513 |
| 2007 | 14,895 |
| 2008 | 14,640 |
| 2009 | 14,539 |
| 2010 | 14,416 |
| 2011 | 13,648 |
| 2012 | 12,976 |
| 2013 | 12,895 |
| 2014 | 13,244 |
| 2015 | 13,426 |
| 2016 | 13,542 |
| 2017 | 13,571 |
| 2018 | 13,625 |
| 2019 | 18,593 |
| 2020 | 13,542 |
| 2021 | 14,926 |
| 2022 | 15,888 |
| 2023 | 16,198 |
| 2024 | 16,839 |
| 2025 | 17,052 |
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 (41.8% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 3 of the 13 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A4500 collisions
Police recorded 274 collisions with the A4500 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 53 of them fatal or serious, including 5 fatal. That is 63.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 3.6 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 40.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | 8 |
| 2022 | 45 | 6 |
| 2023 | 50 | 12 |
| 2024 | 50 | 15 |
| 2025 | 44 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A5101 to A4501 West Northamptonshire · 45 collisions | 171.9 |
| M1 to A45 principal West Northamptonshire · 31 collisions | 94.1 |
| A43 to A5101 West Northamptonshire · 36 collisions | 82.4 |
| A5076 to A43 West Northamptonshire · 30 collisions | 71.8 |
| A45 to A45/A5123 West Northamptonshire · 20 collisions | 70.4 |
| A45 Upton Way roundabout to A428 Spencer Bridge Rd/Harlestone Road intersection West Northamptonshire · 27 collisions | 58.0 |
| A509 to A5076 North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire · 18 collisions | 24.0 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 57 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A4500 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 A4500
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- North Northamptonshire
- West Northamptonshire
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 | 13 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 274 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.