A-road

A506 traffic and collisions

The A506 is an A-road of 9.3 miles, from Liverpool to Lancashire. This page covers its traffic at 7 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
7 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 56m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 16,522 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 30,788 A59 to M57
  • HGV share 1.4% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +11.0% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 82 31.6 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A506?

On an average day in 2025, 16,522 vehicles passed each point on the A506, counting both directions. The busiest section is A59 to M57 (Liverpool, Knowsley), with 30,788 a day; the quietest listed is Maghull Lane to A570, with 3,540.

Busiest sections, 2025

A59 to M57 carries 1.9 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A506 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A59 to M57 Liverpool, Knowsley · 2.6 mi · HGVs 0.9% 30,788
M57 to A5208 Knowsley · 1.2 mi · HGVs 0.8% 28,614
A5208 to C road (to motorway) Knowsley, Sefton · 2.0 mi · HGVs 2.9% 13,439
Maghull Lane to A570 Sefton, Lancashire · 3.5 mi · HGVs 3.3% 3,540

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Liverpool to Lancashire · 9.3 miles

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

A506 traffic and collisions by section

4 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
Sections of the A506 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A59 to M57Liverpool, Knowsley2.630,7880.9%+18.7%4434.2
2M57 to A5208Knowsley1.228,6140.8%+5.9%1321.2
3A5208 to C road (to motorway)Knowsley, Sefton2.013,4392.9%+3.4%1327.4
4Maghull Lane to A570Sefton, Lancashire3.53,5403.3%−1.3%1150.6

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A506 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.

A506 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 83.5% of the vehicle miles on the A506. HGVs account for 1.4%, rising to 3.3% on Maghull Lane to A570.

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 A506, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.2%
2001 3.4%
2002 3.1%
2003 2.6%
2004 2.5%
2005 2.4%
2006 2.4%
2007 2.5%
2008 2.5%
2009 2.2%
2010 2.1%
2011 2.2%
2012 2.2%
2013 1.9%
2014 1.9%
2015 1.9%
2016 1.9%
2017 1.9%
2018 1.9%
2019 1.9%
2020 2.1%
2021 1.9%
2022 1.8%
2023 1.4%
2024 1.4%
2025 1.4%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A506 traffic trend

Traffic on the A506 came to 56.1 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 11.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 12.3% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 1.6% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A506 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 53m
2001 52m
2002 52m
2003 52m
2004 52m
2005 55m
2006 56m
2007 55m
2008 54m
2009 55m
2010 52m
2011 53m
2012 53m
2013 48m
2014 48m
2015 48m
2016 49m
2017 51m
2018 52m
2019 51m
2020 40m
2021 45m
2022 48m
2023 55m
2024 56m
2025 56m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A506, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 15,958
2001 15,530
2002 15,671
2003 15,587
2004 15,590
2005 16,501
2006 16,889
2007 16,476
2008 16,273
2009 16,508
2010 15,756
2011 15,927
2012 15,808
2013 14,333
2014 14,524
2015 14,474
2016 14,821
2017 15,318
2018 15,375
2019 14,881
2020 11,899
2021 13,343
2022 14,000
2023 16,139
2024 16,345
2025 16,522

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

A506 collisions

Police recorded 82 collisions with the A506 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 31.6 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.8 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 42.9% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A506 by year
Year Collisions
2021 14
2022 26
2023 18
2024 16
2025 8

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 A506, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
Maghull Lane to A570 Sefton, Lancashire · 11 collisions 50.6
A59 to M57 Liverpool, Knowsley · 44 collisions 34.2
A5208 to C road (to motorway) Knowsley, Sefton · 13 collisions 27.4
M57 to A5208 Knowsley · 13 collisions 21.2

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

A further 13 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A506 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 98.8% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A506

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

  • Liverpool
  • Knowsley
  • Sefton
  • Lancashire

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 7 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 82 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.