A-road

A459 traffic and collisions

The A459 is an A-road of 11.3 miles, from Dudley to Wolverhampton. This page covers its traffic at 18 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
18 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 58m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 14,035 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 20,530 A458 to A4099
  • HGV share 2.1% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −0.4% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 179 65.3 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A459?

On an average day in 2025, 14,035 vehicles passed each point on the A459, counting both directions. The busiest section is A458 to A4099 (Dudley), with 20,530 a day; the quietest listed is A463 to A4039, with 8,252.

Busiest sections, 2025

A458 to A4099 carries 1.5 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A459 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A458 to A4099 Dudley · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.2% 20,530
A4099 to A4100 Dudley, Sandwell · 1.5 mi · HGVs 3.3% 17,348
A4168 to A457 Dudley · 2.3 mi · HGVs 0.9% 13,526
A4039 to A4123 roundabout Wolverhampton · 0.7 mi · HGVs 0.6% 12,420
A4100 to A461 Sandwell, Dudley · 2.0 mi · HGVs 2.3% 12,149
A463 to A4039 Dudley, Wolverhampton · 1.9 mi · HGVs 0.9% 8,252

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Dudley to Wolverhampton · 11.3 miles

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

A459 traffic and collisions by section

14 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.2 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A459 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1B4183 to A459 Grange Road roundaboutDudley0.415,8750.5%−2.1%5
2A459 Queensway roundabout to A458Dudley0.424,9253.6%+4.6%8
3A458 to A4099Dudley0.620,5304.2%−2.7%4
4A4099 to A4100Dudley, Sandwell1.517,3483.3%+4.3%9
5A4100 to A461Sandwell, Dudley2.012,1492.3%+4.2%47115.5
6A4168 Castle Street to A4037Dudley0.316,7472.1%−6.0%fewer than 3
7Castle Street to A4168Dudley0.49,4442.4%−23.6%4
8A4168 to A457Dudley2.313,5260.9%+2.1%3669.7
9A457 Gate Street to A457 Tipton StreetDudley0.114,8332.0%+2.2%3
10At A459Dudley0.216,1401.0%+2.4%4
11At A463Dudley0.115,8332.0%−1.5%3
12A463 to A4039Dudley, Wolverhampton1.98,2520.9%−6.0%2797.4
13A4039 to A4123 roundaboutWolverhampton0.712,4200.6%−11.1%20125.8
14A459 intersects Grove Street to A4150 slip road into A459Wolverhampton0.215,9451.8%−6.0%3

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A459 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.

A459 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 82.9% of the vehicle miles on the A459. HGVs account for 2.1%, rising to 4.2% on A458 to A4099.

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 A459, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.6%
2001 3.0%
2002 2.9%
2003 2.8%
2004 3.0%
2005 2.7%
2006 2.7%
2007 2.7%
2008 2.6%
2009 2.1%
2010 2.1%
2011 2.2%
2012 2.3%
2013 2.4%
2014 2.5%
2015 2.4%
2016 2.5%
2017 2.7%
2018 2.7%
2019 2.6%
2020 3.0%
2021 2.9%
2022 2.9%
2023 2.8%
2024 2.4%
2025 2.1%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A459 traffic trend

Traffic on the A459 came to 57.9 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is about the same as in 2019, before the pandemic, and down 10.1% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 13.8% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A459 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 74m
2001 64m
2002 65m
2003 63m
2004 62m
2005 60m
2006 59m
2007 59m
2008 60m
2009 59m
2010 59m
2011 60m
2012 59m
2013 60m
2014 61m
2015 63m
2016 61m
2017 59m
2018 55m
2019 58m
2020 46m
2021 51m
2022 54m
2023 55m
2024 57m
2025 58m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A459, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 17,294
2001 16,197
2002 16,208
2003 15,893
2004 15,466
2005 15,190
2006 14,732
2007 14,637
2008 14,974
2009 14,667
2010 14,686
2011 14,809
2012 14,708
2013 14,808
2014 15,281
2015 15,558
2016 14,935
2017 14,465
2018 13,652
2019 14,092
2020 11,106
2021 12,280
2022 13,166
2023 13,313
2024 13,699
2025 14,035

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, 4 of the 18 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A459 collisions

Police recorded 179 collisions with the A459 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal. That is 65.3 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 3.2 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 5.3% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A459 by year
Year Collisions
2021 38
2022 34
2023 45
2024 26
2025 36

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 A459, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A4039 to A4123 roundabout Wolverhampton · 20 collisions 125.8
A4100 to A461 Sandwell, Dudley · 47 collisions 115.5
A463 to A4039 Dudley, Wolverhampton · 27 collisions 97.4
A4168 to A457 Dudley · 36 collisions 69.7

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

A further 30 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A459 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 A459

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

  • Dudley
  • Sandwell
  • Wolverhampton

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 18 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 179 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.