A-road
A518 traffic and collisions
The A518 is an A-road of 34.9 miles, from Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin. This page covers its traffic at 17 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 147m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 11,513 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 23,415 B5060 School Rd, Telford to A41(T)
- HGV share 3.9% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +0.3% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 95 13.9 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A518?
On an average day in 2025, 11,513 vehicles passed each point on the A518, counting both directions. The busiest section is B5060 School Rd, Telford to A41(T) (Telford and Wrekin), with 23,415 a day; the quietest listed is Derrington Lane to A41, with 7,170.
Busiest sections, 2025
B5060 School Rd, Telford to A41(T) carries 2.0 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| B5060 School Rd, Telford to A41(T) Telford and Wrekin · 4.5 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 23,415 |
| A442 to B5060 School Rd Telford and Wrekin · 2.2 mi · HGVs 2.7% | 20,087 |
| Blackheath Lane to A513 Staffordshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 2.8% | 17,205 |
| A513 to A34 Staffordshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 15,441 |
| A34 to A518 Newport Rd Staffordshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 14,855 |
| A518 Roundabout (with A5288) to Western Downs Staffordshire · 1.0 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 11,359 |
| Blackheath Lane, Stafford to A51 Staffordshire · 2.8 mi · HGVs 5.2% | 10,400 |
| B5030 to Derby Rd Staffordshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 9,640 |
| Sundown Drive to Derrington Lane Staffordshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.6% | 9,124 |
| Dove Bank Staffordshire · 9.4 mi · HGVs 9.0% | 7,578 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin · 34.9 miles
A518 traffic and collisions by section
13 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 3 short link roads and spurs (0.8 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B5030 to Derby RdStaffordshire | 9,640 | 3 |
| 2 | Derby Rd to Dove BankStaffordshire | 22,947 | 0 |
| 3 | Dove BankStaffordshire | 7,578 | 17 |
| 4 | Blackheath Lane, Stafford to A51Staffordshire | 10,400 | 8 |
| 5 | Blackheath Lane to A513Staffordshire | 17,205 | 3 |
| 6 | A513 to A34Staffordshire | 15,441 | 12 |
| 7 | A34 to A518 Newport RdStaffordshire | 14,855 | 8 |
| 8 | Station Road (Near Stafford Rail Station) to A518 Roundabout (with A5288)Staffordshire | 14,155 | 0 |
| 9 | A518 Roundabout (with A5288) to Western DownsStaffordshire | 11,359 | fewer than 3 |
| 10 | Sundown Drive to Derrington LaneStaffordshire | 9,124 | 0 |
| 11 | Derrington Lane to A41Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin | 7,170 | 18 |
| 12 | B5060 School Rd, Telford to A41(T)Telford and Wrekin | 23,415 | 14 |
| 13 | A442 to B5060 School RdTelford and Wrekin | 20,087 | 7 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A518 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.
A518 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 81.8% of the vehicle miles on the A518. HGVs account for 3.9%, rising to 9.0% on Dove Bank.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.3% |
| 2001 | 5.3% |
| 2002 | 5.2% |
| 2003 | 5.0% |
| 2004 | 5.0% |
| 2005 | 4.9% |
| 2006 | 5.0% |
| 2007 | 4.8% |
| 2008 | 4.9% |
| 2009 | 4.5% |
| 2010 | 4.6% |
| 2011 | 4.6% |
| 2012 | 4.5% |
| 2013 | 4.6% |
| 2014 | 4.5% |
| 2015 | 4.5% |
| 2016 | 4.9% |
| 2017 | 4.9% |
| 2018 | 4.8% |
| 2019 | 4.8% |
| 2020 | 5.5% |
| 2021 | 5.4% |
| 2022 | 4.9% |
| 2023 | 4.6% |
| 2024 | 3.9% |
| 2025 | 3.9% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A518 traffic trend
Traffic on the A518 came to 147 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 up 4.9% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 16.1% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 134m |
| 2001 | 135m |
| 2002 | 142m |
| 2003 | 133m |
| 2004 | 134m |
| 2005 | 134m |
| 2006 | 133m |
| 2007 | 133m |
| 2008 | 132m |
| 2009 | 132m |
| 2010 | 130m |
| 2011 | 131m |
| 2012 | 129m |
| 2013 | 129m |
| 2014 | 132m |
| 2015 | 137m |
| 2016 | 141m |
| 2017 | 144m |
| 2018 | 145m |
| 2019 | 147m |
| 2020 | 110m |
| 2021 | 121m |
| 2022 | 134m |
| 2023 | 138m |
| 2024 | 144m |
| 2025 | 147m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 10,244 |
| 2001 | 10,363 |
| 2002 | 10,722 |
| 2003 | 10,711 |
| 2004 | 10,786 |
| 2005 | 10,787 |
| 2006 | 10,716 |
| 2007 | 10,711 |
| 2008 | 10,629 |
| 2009 | 10,580 |
| 2010 | 10,419 |
| 2011 | 10,496 |
| 2012 | 10,351 |
| 2013 | 10,328 |
| 2014 | 10,598 |
| 2015 | 10,983 |
| 2016 | 11,296 |
| 2017 | 11,518 |
| 2018 | 11,523 |
| 2019 | 11,631 |
| 2020 | 8,680 |
| 2021 | 9,542 |
| 2022 | 10,609 |
| 2023 | 10,856 |
| 2024 | 11,346 |
| 2025 | 11,513 |
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 (62.8% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 17 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A518 collisions
Police recorded 95 collisions with the A518 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 33 of them fatal or serious, including 7 fatal. That is 13.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.5 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 45.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | 9 |
| 2022 | 11 | 9 |
| 2023 | 5 | 5 |
| 2024 | 13 | 3 |
| 2025 | 22 | 7 |
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.
| Section | Per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| A513 to A34 Staffordshire · 12 collisions | 36.6 |
| Derrington Lane to A41 Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin · 18 collisions | 16.7 |
| Dove Bank Staffordshire · 17 collisions | 13.9 |
| B5060 School Rd, Telford to A41(T) Telford and Wrekin · 14 collisions | 7.6 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 27 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A518 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 A518
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Staffordshire
- Telford and Wrekin
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 | 17 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 95 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.