Trunk A-road
A497 traffic and collisions
The A497 is a trunk A-road of 22.6 miles, in Gwynedd. This page covers its traffic at 6 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 43m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 5,179 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 10,418 At A499
- HGV share 2.2% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −0.9% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 30 15.5 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A497?
On an average day in 2025, 5,179 vehicles passed each point on the A497, counting both directions. The busiest section is At A499 (Gwynedd), with 10,418 a day; the quietest listed is B4417 Pen-y-Bryn to A497 Yr Ala (Ala Rd), with 2,179.
Busiest sections, 2025
At A499 carries 2.0 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| At A499 Gwynedd · 1.0 mi · HGVs 2.2% | 10,418 |
| A498 to B4411, Criccieth Gwynedd · 3.8 mi · HGVs 2.5% | 6,760 |
| A4971/Penamser Road to A487 Minffordd Gwynedd · 2.5 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 5,917 |
| B4411, Criccieth to A499, Pwllheli Gwynedd · 8.1 mi · HGVs 2.3% | 5,824 |
| A487 to A498 Gwynedd · 1.0 mi · HGVs 3.6% | 5,457 |
| B4417 Pen-y-Bryn to A497 Yr Ala (Ala Rd) Gwynedd · 6.2 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 2,179 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Gwynedd · 22.6 miles
A497 traffic and collisions by section
6 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 | A4971/Penamser Road to A487 MinfforddGwynedd | 5,917 | 7 |
| 2 | A487 to A498Gwynedd | 5,457 | fewer than 3 |
| 3 | A498 to B4411, CricciethGwynedd | 6,760 | 7 |
| 4 | B4411, Criccieth to A499, PwllheliGwynedd | 5,824 | 9 |
| 5 | At A499Gwynedd | 10,418 | fewer than 3 |
| 6 | B4417 Pen-y-Bryn to A497 Yr Ala (Ala Rd)Gwynedd | 2,179 | 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A497 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.
A497 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.3% of the vehicle miles on the A497. HGVs account for 2.2%, rising to 3.6% on A487 to A498.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.1% |
| 2001 | 3.3% |
| 2002 | 3.0% |
| 2003 | 2.3% |
| 2004 | 2.3% |
| 2005 | 3.0% |
| 2006 | 2.9% |
| 2007 | 2.9% |
| 2008 | 3.0% |
| 2009 | 2.9% |
| 2010 | 3.0% |
| 2011 | 3.0% |
| 2012 | 2.7% |
| 2013 | 2.6% |
| 2014 | 2.8% |
| 2015 | 2.8% |
| 2016 | 2.8% |
| 2017 | 2.9% |
| 2018 | 2.9% |
| 2019 | 3.0% |
| 2020 | 3.5% |
| 2021 | 3.3% |
| 2022 | 3.2% |
| 2023 | 3.0% |
| 2024 | 2.9% |
| 2025 | 2.2% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A497 traffic trend
Traffic on the A497 came to 42.7 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 0.9% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 3.1% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 16.4% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 32m |
| 2001 | 32m |
| 2002 | 33m |
| 2003 | 37m |
| 2004 | 37m |
| 2005 | 35m |
| 2006 | 35m |
| 2007 | 37m |
| 2008 | 36m |
| 2009 | 36m |
| 2010 | 36m |
| 2011 | 36m |
| 2012 | 33m |
| 2013 | 38m |
| 2014 | 40m |
| 2015 | 41m |
| 2016 | 42m |
| 2017 | 43m |
| 2018 | 43m |
| 2019 | 43m |
| 2020 | 33m |
| 2021 | 35m |
| 2022 | 38m |
| 2023 | 39m |
| 2024 | 40m |
| 2025 | 43m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 4,371 |
| 2001 | 4,397 |
| 2002 | 4,557 |
| 2003 | 5,026 |
| 2004 | 5,076 |
| 2005 | 4,821 |
| 2006 | 4,779 |
| 2007 | 5,086 |
| 2008 | 4,912 |
| 2009 | 4,954 |
| 2010 | 4,872 |
| 2011 | 4,922 |
| 2012 | 4,542 |
| 2013 | 4,642 |
| 2014 | 4,899 |
| 2015 | 5,022 |
| 2016 | 5,142 |
| 2017 | 5,192 |
| 2018 | 5,217 |
| 2019 | 5,225 |
| 2020 | 3,961 |
| 2021 | 4,225 |
| 2022 | 4,567 |
| 2023 | 4,701 |
| 2024 | 4,845 |
| 2025 | 5,179 |
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, 1 of the 6 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A497 collisions
Police recorded 30 collisions with the A497 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 14 of them fatal or serious. That is 15.5 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.3 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 50.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2025 | 6 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 4 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A497 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 A497
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Gwynedd
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 | 6 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 30 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.