Trunk A-road

A46 traffic and collisions

The A46 is a trunk A-road of 191.9 miles, from Warwickshire to North East Lincolnshire. This page covers its traffic at 103 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated: 15 September 2026
Data source: Department for Transport
Records analysed: 103 count points in 2025
Methodology: View methodology

Traffic in 2025 1.9bn vehicle miles
Average daily traffic 26,858 vehicles a day, both directions
Busiest section 82,553 A50 to A5030
HGV share 6.9% of vehicle miles
Traffic since 2019 +1.1% same count points
Collisions, 2021 to 2025 1,152 13.1 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A46?

On an average day in 2025, 26,858 vehicles passed each point on the A46, counting both directions. The busiest section is A50 to A5030 (Leicestershire), with 82,553 a day; the quietest listed is B4014 to A4135, with 5,214.

Busiest sections, 2025

A50 to A5030 carries 3.1 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A46 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section	Vehicles a day
A50 to A5030 Leicestershire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 7.2%	82,553
A452 to A429/B4115 Warwickshire · 1.8 mi · HGVs 6.3%	79,848
A4177 to M40 Warwickshire · 2.3 mi · HGVs 7.0%	74,483
C road to Stoneleigh to A452 Warwickshire · 2.3 mi · HGVs 6.8%	74,365
A46 junction just south of Brook Farm, Warwickshire to C road to Stoneleigh Warwickshire · 2.7 mi · HGVs 6.8%	72,358
A5630 to A6 Leicestershire, Leicester · 3.2 mi · HGVs 6.3%	70,367
A429/B4115 to A4177 Warwickshire · 2.1 mi · HGVs 6.6%	70,094
A6 to A607E Leicestershire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 6.0%	69,888
Junction A428/A46(T) to A45 Warwickshire, Coventry · 2.5 mi · HGVs 8.6%	68,455
B5380 to A50 Leicestershire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 7.5%	64,115

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Route

Warwickshire to North East Lincolnshire · 191.9 miles in 2 stretches

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

A46 traffic and collisions by section

75 sections between junctions, in route order (2 separate stretches). Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 15 short link roads and spurs (3.4 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 75 sections Tap a column heading to sort

Sections of the A46 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1	M6 to B4082Warwickshire · stretch 1	2.3	56,953	8.7%	+4.8%	21	9.8
2	Roundabout B4082/A46(T) to Junction A428/A46(T)Warwickshire · stretch 1	1.5	54,646	10.2%	–	10	11.3
3	Junction A428/A46(T) to A45Warwickshire, Coventry · stretch 1	2.5	68,455	8.6%	–	13	7.2
4	A429 to A444Coventry · stretch 1	0.2	30,004	2.0%	−37.2%	fewer than 3	–
5	A46 junction just south of Brook Farm, Warwickshire to C road to StoneleighWarwickshire · stretch 1	2.7	72,358	6.8%	–	14	9.9
6	C road to Stoneleigh to A452Warwickshire · stretch 1	2.3	74,365	6.8%	−13.2%	22	7.3
7	A452 to A429/B4115Warwickshire · stretch 1	1.8	79,848	6.3%	−3.3%	19	8.1
8	A429/B4115 to A4177Warwickshire · stretch 1	2.1	70,094	6.6%	+10.3%	5	–
9	A4177 to M40Warwickshire · stretch 1	2.3	74,483	7.0%	+8.2%	24	8.6
10	M40 to A439Warwickshire · stretch 1	2.4	38,181	5.6%	−10.9%	22	13.1
11	A439 to A3400Warwickshire · stretch 1	4.2	23,767	7.5%	−12.9%	15	8.8
12	A3400 to A422Warwickshire · stretch 1	1.4	19,494	7.6%	+0.6%	15	31.5
13	A422 to Stratford rdWarwickshire · stretch 1	3.7	20,447	7.8%	−17.7%	27	21.0
14	Stratford Rd to A435Warwickshire · stretch 1	1.9	17,391	7.7%	−0.6%	6	–
15	A435 / A46 to A4184Warwickshire, Worcestershire · stretch 1	7.7	22,166	10.1%	+3.7%	17	5.9
16	A4184 to A44Worcestershire · stretch 1	2.4	29,124	6.9%	+1.0%	10	8.0
17	A44 Cheltenham Rd to A44 Broadway RdWorcestershire · stretch 1	1.5	18,197	8.1%	+7.9%	8	–
18	A44 to A435Worcestershire, Gloucestershire · stretch 1	6.8	18,405	7.9%	−1.9%	43	19.9
19	A435 to M5 Junction. 9Gloucestershire · stretch 1	3.4	20,425	8.7%	+2.1%	25	20.2
20	Clarence Road to Fairview RoadGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.2	8,285	1.6%	−5.7%	fewer than 3	–
21	Albion Street to Winchcombe StreetGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.2	11,703	2.2%	−4.9%	fewer than 3	–
22	A46 High Street to A46 Albion StreetGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.1	4,043	2.1%	–	0	–
23	A46 Oriel Road to A46 St. James StreetGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.2	11,962	1.3%	–	4	–
24	A40 to Orel Road TriangleGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.2	6,168	1.4%	−5.2%	6	–
25	A40 Suffiolk Road to A40 Montpellier TerraceGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.1	9,968	1.5%	−8.3%	0	–
26	A40 to Up Hatherley WayGloucestershire · stretch 1	2.4	16,280	0.9%	−6.4%	20	28.8
27	Up Hatherley Way to A417(T)Gloucestershire · stretch 1	1.7	19,669	1.7%	+6.2%	13	18.8
28	Old A417(T)Brockworth to A4173Gloucestershire · stretch 1	7.3	6,376	1.6%	−7.0%	20	24.5
29	A4173 to A4171Gloucestershire · stretch 1	1.6	11,714	0.6%	−12.4%	17	51.2
30	Merry Walks to A4135 Stratford RoadGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.2	16,088	0.7%	−5.8%	fewer than 3	–
31	A419 to B4070Gloucestershire · stretch 1	0.2	19,103	1.1%	−5.8%	5	–
32	A419 Cainscross Road to A419 Dr Newton's WayGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.1	19,605	1.7%	−5.2%	0	–
33	A419 Dr Newton's Way to A46 Dudbridge RoadGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.8	13,309	0.9%	−5.8%	3	–
34	Dudbridge Rd to Kitesnest LaneGloucestershire · stretch 1	0.1	17,058	1.5%	−2.4%	0	–
35	Kitesnest Lane to Culver HillGloucestershire · stretch 1	1.2	15,368	1.5%	−2.4%	8	–
36	Culver Hill to B4014Gloucestershire · stretch 1	1.7	12,041	1.4%	+6.8%	14	42.5
37	B4014 to A4135Gloucestershire · stretch 1	3.4	5,214	3.2%	−6.9%	6	–
38	A4135 to A433Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire · stretch 1	6.9	5,488	3.6%	+9.3%	10	16.4
39	A433 to A432South Gloucestershire · stretch 1	4.0	8,791	2.8%	−4.6%	6	–
40	M4 to A420South Gloucestershire · stretch 1	2.0	13,711	5.8%	+12.4%	7	–
41	Sands Hill to M4 J18South Gloucestershire · stretch 1	3.8	29,866	2.8%	+0.3%	31	16.2
42	A420 to A4South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset · stretch 1	4.4	21,266	4.6%	−2.8%	10	6.2
43	21 to 21ALeicestershire · stretch 2	0.5	17,728	8.7%	–	fewer than 3	–
44	M1 Jnc 21A to B5380Leicestershire · stretch 2	0.2	64,115	7.5%	+0.2%	0	–
45	B5380 to A50Leicestershire · stretch 2	0.5	64,115	7.5%	+0.2%	fewer than 3	–
46	A50 to A5030Leicestershire · stretch 2	0.9	82,553	7.2%	+2.8%	3	–
47	A5630 to A6Leicestershire, Leicester · stretch 2	3.2	70,367	6.3%	+7.6%	9	–
48	A6 to A607ELeicestershire · stretch 2	1.4	69,888	6.0%	−1.1%	7	–
49	A607 WEST to A607 TriangleLeicestershire · stretch 2	0.9	53,508	6.9%	+10.8%	4	–
50	A607 South to A607Leicestershire · stretch 2	0.7	41,783	7.2%	+5.8%	0	–
51	A607 to Ratcliffe RoadLeicestershire · stretch 2	0.3	54,343	7.3%	+19.1%	5	–
52	Ratcliffe Rd to A6006Leicestershire · stretch 2	5.6	40,254	7.3%	+7.9%	28	7.8
53	At A6006 spurLeicestershire · stretch 2	0.2	37,956	5.7%	+5.1%	0	–
54	A6006 to A606Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	3.7	34,830	8.3%	+5.7%	20	9.1
55	A606 to A52Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	6.9	31,230	9.5%	+15.7%	12	3.5
56	A52 to A6097Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	1.7	40,716	7.8%	+6.7%	fewer than 3	–
57	A6097 to A616/A617Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	11.9	27,180	9.9%	–	58	8.4
58	A616/A617 to A1/B6166Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	1.8	30,683	11.2%	−2.3%	26	26.0
59	B6166 to A17Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	0.2	48,502	10.5%	+1.5%	15	–
60	A17 to A1133Nottinghamshire · stretch 2	1.0	42,636	8.3%	+9.0%	16	21.6
61	A1133 to A1434 LincolnNottinghamshire, Lincolnshire · stretch 2	8.7	37,001	8.7%	–	43	7.7
62	A1434 to A57Lincolnshire · stretch 2	5.8	33,364	7.7%	+9.2%	69	19.8
63	A57 to A15Lincolnshire · stretch 2	1.7	37,513	6.9%	+14.9%	24	21.9
64	A158 to A631Lincolnshire · stretch 2	12.0	12,765	2.3%	−10.2%	87	32.4
65	A631 Gainsborough Road Middle Rasen End to A631 Market Rasen endLincolnshire · stretch 2	0.7	10,079	4.7%	−8.3%	fewer than 3	–
66	A631 to A1103Lincolnshire · stretch 2	2.5	7,868	2.8%	−3.7%	8	–
67	A1103 to B1434Lincolnshire · stretch 2	2.6	7,595	3.6%	+0.9%	9	–
68	B1434 to A1173/A1084Lincolnshire · stretch 2	4.5	7,102	4.0%	+10.2%	20	38.8
69	A1084 to A18Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	5.9	7,994	2.5%	+7.6%	26	31.5
70	A18 to Broadway, NunthorpeNorth East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	2.3	14,515	1.9%	−22.5%	13	22.2
71	Broadway to A16North East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	1.7	17,224	0.8%	+4.9%	44	90.3
72	At A1243North East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	0.1	29,585	0.6%	−7.9%	4	–
73	A1243 to A16North East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	0.6	21,799	0.7%	+4.9%	18	77.9
74	A16 to A1031North East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	0.9	20,241	0.6%	−1.7%	18	55.9
75	A1031 to A180North East Lincolnshire · stretch 2	1.0	11,425	0.8%	−5.6%	20	99.1

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A46 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.

A46 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 75.4% of the vehicle miles on the A46. HGVs account for 6.9%, rising to 11.2% on A616/A617 to A1/B6166.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Share of vehicle miles on the A46 by vehicle type
Category	Share
Cars and taxis	75.4%
Vans (LGVs)	17.0%
HGVs	6.9%
Motorcycles	0.5%
Buses and coaches	0.2%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the A46, by year
Year	HGV share
2000	8.1%
2001	8.0%
2002	8.0%
2003	7.8%
2004	7.4%
2005	7.8%
2006	7.9%
2007	7.8%
2008	7.5%
2009	6.9%
2010	6.8%
2011	6.8%
2012	6.5%
2013	6.7%
2014	6.7%
2015	6.8%
2016	7.0%
2017	7.1%
2018	7.2%
2019	7.1%
2020	8.7%
2021	8.3%
2022	7.7%
2023	7.4%
2024	7.2%
2025	6.9%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

A46 traffic trend

Traffic on the A46 came to 1.88 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 1.1% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 10.3% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 37.3% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A46 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year	Vehicle miles
2000	1.3bn
2001	1.3bn
2002	1.4bn
2003	1.4bn
2004	1.4bn
2005	1.4bn
2006	1.4bn
2007	1.5bn
2008	1.5bn
2009	1.5bn
2010	1.5bn
2011	1.5bn
2012	1.6bn
2013	1.6bn
2014	1.6bn
2015	1.7bn
2016	1.7bn
2017	1.8bn
2018	1.8bn
2019	1.8bn
2020	1.3bn
2021	1.5bn
2022	1.7bn
2023	1.8bn
2024	1.9bn
2025	1.9bn

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A46, weighted by link length, by year
Year	Vehicles a day
2000	18,667
2001	19,386
2002	20,246
2003	20,849
2004	21,050
2005	21,123
2006	21,242
2007	21,603
2008	21,937
2009	21,945
2010	21,907
2011	22,272
2012	22,898
2013	23,010
2014	23,757
2015	24,380
2016	25,057
2017	26,166
2018	26,145
2019	26,589
2020	18,746
2021	22,020
2022	24,702
2023	26,059
2024	26,571
2025	26,858

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

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 (87.8% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 47 of the 103 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A46 collisions

Police recorded 1,152 collisions with the A46 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 330 of them fatal or serious, including 34 fatal. That is 13.1 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.2 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

About the same in 2025 as in 2021.

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

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 A46, 2021 to 2025
Section	Per 100m vehicle miles
A1031 to A180 North East Lincolnshire · 20 collisions	99.1
Broadway to A16 North East Lincolnshire · 44 collisions	90.3
A1243 to A16 North East Lincolnshire · 18 collisions	77.9
A16 to A1031 North East Lincolnshire · 18 collisions	55.9
A4173 to A4171 Gloucestershire · 17 collisions	51.2
Culver Hill to B4014 Gloucestershire · 14 collisions	42.5
B1434 to A1173/A1084 Lincolnshire · 20 collisions	38.8
A158 to A631 Lincolnshire · 87 collisions	32.4

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

A further 161 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A46 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 A46

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

Warwickshire
Coventry
Worcestershire
Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
Bath and North East Somerset
Leicestershire
Leicester
Nottinghamshire
Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire

Planned closures on the A46 in England

National Highways has 25 planned closures on the A46 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 24 of them starting in that period. 10 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 21 start between 7pm and 6am.

Carriageway Lay-by closure northbound

16 Sept 13:00 to 25 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance
Lane or slip Lane closure incuding roundabout northbound

16 Sept 20:00 to 18 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance
Carriageway Lay-by closure northbound

16 Sept 20:00 to 18 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance
Lane or slip Lane closure northbound

16 Sept 20:00 to 22 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance
Lane or slip Lane closure southbound

16 Sept 20:00 to 18 Sept 20:00 Road maintenance
Lane or slip Lane 1 closure northbound

16 Sept 21:00 to 17 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance
Lane or slip Lane 2 closure northbound

16 Sept 21:00 to 17 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance
Carriageway Lay-by closure southbound

17 Sept 20:00 to 25 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

17 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 16 Sept 2026

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	103 count points in 2025	15 September 2026
Reported collisions	Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring	2021 to 2025	1,152 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”.

How we calculate these figures All data sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How busy is the A46?

Route

A46 traffic and collisions by section

A46 traffic by vehicle type

A46 traffic trend

A46 collisions

Council areas on the A46

Roads that meet the A46

Planned closures on the A46 in England

Data sources and methodology

Related statistics