Trunk A-road

A5103 traffic and collisions

The A5103 is a trunk A-road of 6.7 miles, in Manchester. This page covers its traffic at 11 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
11 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 119m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 48,511 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 118,567 M56 to M60
  • HGV share 1.8% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −3.2% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 118 21.2 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A5103?

On an average day in 2025, 48,511 vehicles passed each point on the A5103, counting both directions. The busiest section is M56 to M60 (Manchester), with 118,567 a day; the quietest listed is A57(M) to A34, with 11,678.

Busiest sections, 2025

M56 to M60 carries 2.4 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A5103 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
M56 to M60 Manchester · 0.7 mi · HGVs 3.1% 118,567
A60/A5103(T) to A5145 Manchester · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.2% 75,689
M60 spur to M60 spur/A5103 Manchester · 0.5 mi · HGVs 1.3% 56,121
A5145 to A6010 Manchester · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.2% 51,556
A6010 to A5067 Manchester · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.5% 38,478
A57(M) to A34 Manchester · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.1% 11,678

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

In Manchester · 6.7 miles

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

A5103 traffic and collisions by section

10 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.4 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A5103 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A560 to M56Manchester0.223,7133.1%−3.5%fewer than 3
2M56 to M60Manchester0.7118,5673.1%−3.5%1913.5
3M60 spur to M60 spur/A5103Manchester0.556,1211.3%−11.0%fewer than 3
4A60/A5103(T) to A5145Manchester0.675,6891.2%−2.3%6
5A5145 to A6010Manchester1.451,5561.2%+12.3%2218.7
6A6010 to A5067Manchester1.738,4781.5%−4.2%2420.8
7A5067 to A57(M)Manchester0.244,0751.5%+8.6%5
8A57(M) to A34Manchester0.711,6781.1%−31.0%9
9At A34Manchester0.17,3751.3%−39.0%5
10A34 to A6Manchester0.29,5281.3%−33.5%19

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A5103 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.

A5103 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 86.1% of the vehicle miles on the A5103. HGVs account for 1.8%, rising to 3.1% on M56 to M60.

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 A5103, by year
Year HGV share
2000 2.9%
2001 2.7%
2002 2.6%
2003 2.7%
2004 2.8%
2005 2.7%
2006 2.5%
2007 2.4%
2008 2.5%
2009 2.7%
2010 3.2%
2011 2.5%
2012 2.0%
2013 1.9%
2014 2.0%
2015 2.1%
2016 1.9%
2017 2.0%
2018 2.1%
2019 2.2%
2020 3.3%
2021 3.3%
2022 2.2%
2023 1.8%
2024 1.8%
2025 1.8%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A5103 traffic trend

Traffic on the A5103 came to 119 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 3.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 2.2% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 3.7% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A5103 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 123m
2001 116m
2002 115m
2003 118m
2004 120m
2005 115m
2006 119m
2007 119m
2008 118m
2009 119m
2010 113m
2011 115m
2012 117m
2013 117m
2014 117m
2015 114m
2016 116m
2017 117m
2018 116m
2019 123m
2020 87m
2021 94m
2022 108m
2023 117m
2024 120m
2025 119m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A5103, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 52,444
2001 49,649
2002 49,334
2003 50,639
2004 51,331
2005 49,353
2006 50,809
2007 51,118
2008 50,566
2009 50,823
2010 48,153
2011 49,323
2012 50,053
2013 49,957
2014 50,022
2015 48,668
2016 49,715
2017 50,126
2018 47,543
2019 50,097
2020 35,559
2021 38,515
2022 43,969
2023 47,978
2024 49,103
2025 48,511

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, 2 of the 11 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A5103 collisions

Police recorded 118 collisions with the A5103 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 36 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal. That is 21.2 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 3.5 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 12.0% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A5103 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 196
2022 127
2023 179
2024 188
2025 166

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 A5103, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A6010 to A5067 Manchester · 24 collisions 20.8
A5145 to A6010 Manchester · 22 collisions 18.7
M56 to M60 Manchester · 19 collisions 13.5

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

A further 36 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A5103 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 A5103

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

  • Manchester

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 11 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 118 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.