Trunk A-road

A458 traffic and collisions

The A458 is a trunk A-road of 87.8 miles in England and Wales, from Birmingham to Gwynedd. This page covers its traffic at 43 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
43 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 251m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 7,825 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 29,012 A4034 to A459
  • HGV share 3.8% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −2.8% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 351 29.4 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A458?

On an average day in 2025, 7,825 vehicles passed each point on the A458, counting both directions. The busiest section is A4034 to A459 (Dudley), with 29,012 a day; the quietest listed is B4395 to A470, with 2,896.

Busiest sections, 2025

A4034 to A459 carries 3.7 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A458 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A4034 to A459 Dudley · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.4% 29,012
A456 to A4034 Birmingham, Dudley · 0.9 mi · HGVs 1.1% 20,034
B4537 Wollaston Rd to A449 Staffordshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.2% 18,097
A4036 to A491 Dudley · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.4% 18,072
Furnace Lane to The Hayes Dudley · 2.7 mi · HGVs 2.7% 18,069
A5(T) to B4393 Shropshire · 2.5 mi · HGVs 6.1% 14,941
A461 to B4537 Wollaston Rd Dudley, Staffordshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 2.1% 13,838
A5112 to Abbey Foregate roundabout Shropshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.0% 12,995
B4380 mid-junction to Gains Park Way Shropshire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 1.6% 10,992
A451 to A461 Dudley · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.9% 10,455

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Birmingham to Gwynedd · 87.8 miles

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

A458 traffic and collisions by section

31 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 7 short link roads and spurs (2.1 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 31 sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A458 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A456 to A4034Birmingham, Dudley0.920,0341.1%+7.2%1753.3
2A4034 to A459Dudley1.129,0121.4%−1.9%1423.9
3A459 to Furnace LaneDudley0.49,2532.6%−1.3%5
4Furnace Lane to The HayesDudley2.718,0692.7%−3.6%3439.4
5The Hayes to A4036Dudley0.48,8162.8%−6.0%11
6A4036 to A491Dudley1.218,0721.4%−5.7%1744.3
7A451 to A461Dudley0.710,4551.9%−5.9%1185.0
8A461 to B4537 Wollaston RdDudley, Staffordshire0.713,8382.1%+3.8%5
9B4537 Wollaston Rd to A449Staffordshire1.218,0971.2%+11.7%6
10A449 to A454Staffordshire, Shropshire9.74,7903.9%−10.1%2125.5
11A454 to Faraday DriveShropshire0.86,4586.2%−6.5%fewer than 3
12Faraday Drive to A442Shropshire0.47,1696.2%−6.5%fewer than 3
13A442 to Wenlock RdShropshire1.78,8835.4%−6.6%5
14Wenlock Rd to A4169Shropshire6.78,2493.0%+7.8%1213.4
15A4169 to A5Shropshire10.37,7814.1%−6.3%2618.5
16A5 to B4380Shropshire0.17,8530.3%+22.7%4
17B4380 to A5064 roundaboutShropshire1.18,6290.3%+22.7%8
18A5064 to A5112Shropshire0.213,0590.8%−5.8%5
19A5112 to Abbey Foregate roundaboutShropshire0.612,9951.0%−14.8%5
20A488 to B4380 mid-junctionShropshire1.37,7491.3%−5.5%4
21B4380 mid-junction to Gains Park WayShropshire0.910,9921.6%−5.3%3
22Gains Park Way to A5(T)Shropshire0.210,0031.6%−5.3%fewer than 3
23A5(T) to B4393Shropshire2.514,9416.1%+2.8%9
24B4393 to A483Shropshire, Powys11.810,0396.7%−4.7%4220.3
25Roundabout A483/A458 (Sarn-y-bryn-caled) to Junction A458/B4381Powys1.73,8202.6%8
26Junction A458/B4381 to A458 Junction (High Street)Powys0.25,3542.4%0
27A458 Junction (High Street) to Roundbaout A490/A458 Nr. Raven SquarePowys0.43,3233.8%fewer than 3
28B4389 Bridge St to A490Powys8.64,1094.3%−4.4%3048.7
29B4389 Bridge Street to A495Powys1.53,4503.5%−4.1%5
30A495 to B4395Powys5.24,0014.2%−5.2%1541.4
31B4395 to A470Powys, Gwynedd10.52,8964.2%−4.0%1018.9

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A458 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.

A458 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 78.5% of the vehicle miles on the A458. HGVs account for 3.8%, rising to 6.7% on B4393 to A483.

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 A458, by year
Year HGV share
2000 4.7%
2001 4.8%
2002 4.7%
2003 4.5%
2004 4.6%
2005 4.1%
2006 4.1%
2007 4.2%
2008 4.3%
2009 4.0%
2010 4.0%
2011 4.2%
2012 4.0%
2013 3.9%
2014 3.8%
2015 3.8%
2016 3.7%
2017 3.8%
2018 3.8%
2019 3.9%
2020 4.8%
2021 4.7%
2022 4.3%
2023 4.2%
2024 3.8%
2025 3.8%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A458 traffic trend

Traffic on the A458 came to 251 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 2.8% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 1.2% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 18.1% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A458 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 220m
2001 226m
2002 233m
2003 248m
2004 235m
2005 245m
2006 253m
2007 248m
2008 238m
2009 247m
2010 240m
2011 240m
2012 241m
2013 242m
2014 249m
2015 255m
2016 258m
2017 261m
2018 264m
2019 257m
2020 193m
2021 217m
2022 236m
2023 241m
2024 249m
2025 251m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A458, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 7,067
2001 7,279
2002 7,364
2003 7,817
2004 7,405
2005 7,744
2006 7,882
2007 7,721
2008 7,431
2009 7,621
2010 7,393
2011 7,405
2012 7,419
2013 7,448
2014 7,674
2015 7,839
2016 7,936
2017 8,059
2018 8,155
2019 8,068
2020 6,039
2021 6,795
2022 7,387
2023 7,507
2024 7,760
2025 7,825

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

A458 collisions

Police recorded 351 collisions with the A458 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 120 of them fatal or serious. That is 29.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.8 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 4.8% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A458 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 3627
2022 5519
2023 4520
2024 5231
2025 4224

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 A458, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A451 to A461 Dudley · 11 collisions 85.0
A456 to A4034 Birmingham, Dudley · 17 collisions 53.3
B4389 Bridge St to A490 Powys · 30 collisions 48.7
A4036 to A491 Dudley · 17 collisions 44.3
A495 to B4395 Powys · 15 collisions 41.4
Furnace Lane to The Hayes Dudley · 34 collisions 39.4
A449 to A454 Staffordshire, Shropshire · 21 collisions 25.5
A4034 to A459 Dudley · 14 collisions 23.9

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

A further 31 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A458 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 A458

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

  • Birmingham
  • Dudley
  • Staffordshire
  • Shropshire
  • Powys
  • Gwynedd

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 43 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 351 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.