A-road
A520 traffic and collisions
The A520 is an A-road of 17.1 miles, in Staffordshire. This page covers its traffic at 16 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 67m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 10,648 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 13,781 A50 to A5272
- HGV share 5.1% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 83 26.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A520?
On an average day in 2025, 10,648 vehicles passed each point on the A520, counting both directions. The busiest section is A50 to A5272 (Stoke-on-Trent), with 13,781 a day; the quietest listed is Airdale Rd, Stone to A5005, with 8,051.
Busiest sections, 2025
A50 to A5272 carries 1.3 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A50 to A5272 Stoke-on-Trent · 1.1 mi · HGVs 5.5% | 13,781 |
| A522 to Birchall Lane, Leek Staffordshire · 4.6 mi · HGVs 6.2% | 11,758 |
| Main St to A52 Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire · 2.4 mi · HGVs 7.4% | 11,432 |
| Little Lane to A50 Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent · 1.4 mi · HGVs 2.7% | 10,664 |
| A52 to A522 Staffordshire · 1.3 mi · HGVs 6.5% | 9,027 |
| Airdale Rd, Stone to A5005 Staffordshire · 3.7 mi · HGVs 3.4% | 8,051 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Staffordshire · 17.1 miles
A520 traffic and collisions by section
13 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.3 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A34(T) to A520 Crown StStaffordshire | 16,123 | 0 |
| 2 | Crown St to Radford StStaffordshire | 12,724 | 6 |
| 3 | A520 Christchurch Way to Airdale Rd, StoneStaffordshire | 9,056 | 0 |
| 4 | Airdale Rd, Stone to A5005Staffordshire | 8,051 | 6 |
| 5 | A5005 to Little LaneStaffordshire | 7,511 | 5 |
| 6 | Little Lane to A50Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent | 10,664 | 7 |
| 7 | A50 to A5272Stoke-on-Trent | 13,781 | 15 |
| 8 | A5272 to Main StStoke-on-Trent | 13,307 | 6 |
| 9 | Main St to A52Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire | 11,432 | 11 |
| 10 | A52 to A522Staffordshire | 9,027 | 3 |
| 11 | A522 to Birchall Lane, LeekStaffordshire | 11,758 | 14 |
| 12 | Birchall Lane to A53Staffordshire | 10,124 | 5 |
| 13 | A53 to A523(T)Staffordshire | 7,085 | 4 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A520 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.
A520 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.3% of the vehicle miles on the A520. HGVs account for 5.1%, rising to 7.4% on Main St to A52.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.4% |
| 2001 | 6.0% |
| 2002 | 6.0% |
| 2003 | 5.9% |
| 2004 | 6.1% |
| 2005 | 6.3% |
| 2006 | 6.2% |
| 2007 | 5.9% |
| 2008 | 6.0% |
| 2009 | 5.5% |
| 2010 | 5.4% |
| 2011 | 5.4% |
| 2012 | 5.0% |
| 2013 | 5.0% |
| 2014 | 5.0% |
| 2015 | 5.0% |
| 2016 | 5.1% |
| 2017 | 5.1% |
| 2018 | 5.8% |
| 2019 | 6.0% |
| 2020 | 7.0% |
| 2021 | 6.8% |
| 2022 | 6.2% |
| 2023 | 5.9% |
| 2024 | 5.2% |
| 2025 | 5.1% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A520 traffic trend
Traffic on the A520 came to 66.5 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 5.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 1.5% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 69m |
| 2001 | 68m |
| 2002 | 67m |
| 2003 | 68m |
| 2004 | 70m |
| 2005 | 69m |
| 2006 | 70m |
| 2007 | 69m |
| 2008 | 70m |
| 2009 | 70m |
| 2010 | 70m |
| 2011 | 71m |
| 2012 | 68m |
| 2013 | 67m |
| 2014 | 69m |
| 2015 | 70m |
| 2016 | 70m |
| 2017 | 68m |
| 2018 | 67m |
| 2019 | 67m |
| 2020 | 51m |
| 2021 | 57m |
| 2022 | 62m |
| 2023 | 64m |
| 2024 | 66m |
| 2025 | 67m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 10,747 |
| 2001 | 10,689 |
| 2002 | 10,792 |
| 2003 | 10,936 |
| 2004 | 11,290 |
| 2005 | 11,095 |
| 2006 | 11,204 |
| 2007 | 11,058 |
| 2008 | 11,218 |
| 2009 | 11,237 |
| 2010 | 11,244 |
| 2011 | 11,491 |
| 2012 | 10,877 |
| 2013 | 10,851 |
| 2014 | 11,147 |
| 2015 | 11,206 |
| 2016 | 11,200 |
| 2017 | 11,031 |
| 2018 | 10,836 |
| 2019 | 10,759 |
| 2020 | 8,229 |
| 2021 | 9,055 |
| 2022 | 9,922 |
| 2023 | 10,185 |
| 2024 | 10,503 |
| 2025 | 10,648 |
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, 3 of the 16 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A520 collisions
Police recorded 83 collisions with the A520 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious, including 4 fatal. That is 26.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.0 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 127.3% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2023 | 14 |
| 2024 | 23 |
| 2025 | 25 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A50 to A5272 Stoke-on-Trent · 15 collisions | 55.1 |
| Main St to A52 Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire · 11 collisions | 23.6 |
| A522 to Birchall Lane, Leek Staffordshire · 14 collisions | 14.9 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 13 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A520 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 A520
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Staffordshire
- Stoke-on-Trent
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 | 16 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 83 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.