Trunk A-road
A523 traffic and collisions
The A523 is a trunk A-road of 31.7 miles, from Staffordshire to Stockport. This page covers its traffic at 20 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 141m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 12,148 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 28,810 A537 W to B5091
- HGV share 3.9% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −2.8% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 126 19.0 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A523?
On an average day in 2025, 12,148 vehicles passed each point on the A523, counting both directions. The busiest section is A537 W to B5091 (East Cheshire), with 28,810 a day; the quietest listed is B5331 to A54, with 5,591.
Busiest sections, 2025
A537 W to B5091 carries 2.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A537 W to B5091 East Cheshire · 2.3 mi · HGVs 2.5% | 28,810 |
| B5091 to B5358 East Cheshire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.6% | 24,319 |
| B5358 to A555/A523 Intersection East Cheshire, Stockport · 4.1 mi · HGVs 3.7% | 18,468 |
| Winterton Way to A54 East Cheshire · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.9% | 18,412 |
| A6 to A5143 Stockport · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.9% | 16,163 |
| Kiln Lane, Leek to B5331 Rudyard Rd Staffordshire · 1.1 mi · HGVs 3.5% | 10,502 |
| A536 to Winterton Way, Macclesfield East Cheshire · 2.9 mi · HGVs 3.4% | 10,495 |
| A524 to Mount Rd, Leek Staffordshire · 9.3 mi · HGVs 5.3% | 8,041 |
| B5331 to A54 Staffordshire, East Cheshire · 6.7 mi · HGVs 6.9% | 5,591 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Staffordshire to Stockport · 31.7 miles
A523 traffic and collisions by section
17 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.
Show all 17 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A524 to Mount Rd, LeekStaffordshire | 8,041 | 14 |
| 2 | Mount Rd to A52Staffordshire | 8,523 | 0 |
| 3 | A53W to A524Staffordshire | 8,189 | 3 |
| 4 | A53 W to A53EStaffordshire | 11,185 | fewer than 3 |
| 5 | A53 to A520Staffordshire | 14,779 | 4 |
| 6 | A520 St Edward St to Kiln LaneStaffordshire | 11,657 | 4 |
| 7 | Kiln Lane, Leek to B5331 Rudyard RdStaffordshire | 10,502 | 4 |
| 8 | B5331 to A54Staffordshire, East Cheshire | 5,591 | 13 |
| 9 | A536 to Winterton Way, MacclesfieldEast Cheshire | 10,495 | 10 |
| 10 | Winterton Way to A54East Cheshire | 18,412 | 9 |
| 11 | A536 to A537EEast Cheshire | 15,415 | 10 |
| 12 | A537E to A523East Cheshire | 29,482 | fewer than 3 |
| 13 | A537 W to B5091East Cheshire | 28,810 | 15 |
| 14 | B5091 to B5358East Cheshire | 24,319 | 6 |
| 15 | B5358 to A555/A523 IntersectionEast Cheshire, Stockport | 18,468 | 18 |
| 16 | Major Junction with A55 and A523 to Junction with A523 Macclesfield Road and A5143 Dean LaneStockport | 21,010 | 7 |
| 17 | A6 to A5143Stockport | 16,163 | 4 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A523 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.
A523 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.4% of the vehicle miles on the A523. HGVs account for 3.9%, rising to 6.9% on B5331 to A54.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 7.0% |
| 2001 | 6.2% |
| 2002 | 6.1% |
| 2003 | 6.2% |
| 2004 | 5.9% |
| 2005 | 5.8% |
| 2006 | 6.1% |
| 2007 | 6.1% |
| 2008 | 5.9% |
| 2009 | 5.3% |
| 2010 | 5.2% |
| 2011 | 5.1% |
| 2012 | 5.1% |
| 2013 | 5.1% |
| 2014 | 5.0% |
| 2015 | 5.0% |
| 2016 | 4.6% |
| 2017 | 4.6% |
| 2018 | 4.2% |
| 2019 | 4.2% |
| 2020 | 4.8% |
| 2021 | 4.6% |
| 2022 | 4.4% |
| 2023 | 4.3% |
| 2024 | 4.0% |
| 2025 | 3.9% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A523 traffic trend
Traffic on the A523 came to 141 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 2.8% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 4.2% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 8.2% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 136m |
| 2001 | 140m |
| 2002 | 140m |
| 2003 | 140m |
| 2004 | 140m |
| 2005 | 140m |
| 2006 | 142m |
| 2007 | 137m |
| 2008 | 133m |
| 2009 | 133m |
| 2010 | 132m |
| 2011 | 131m |
| 2012 | 130m |
| 2013 | 129m |
| 2014 | 133m |
| 2015 | 135m |
| 2016 | 141m |
| 2017 | 141m |
| 2018 | 139m |
| 2019 | 141m |
| 2020 | 109m |
| 2021 | 121m |
| 2022 | 127m |
| 2023 | 129m |
| 2024 | 146m |
| 2025 | 141m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 11,546 |
| 2001 | 11,904 |
| 2002 | 11,905 |
| 2003 | 11,903 |
| 2004 | 11,931 |
| 2005 | 11,933 |
| 2006 | 12,042 |
| 2007 | 11,646 |
| 2008 | 11,294 |
| 2009 | 11,277 |
| 2010 | 11,197 |
| 2011 | 11,178 |
| 2012 | 11,017 |
| 2013 | 10,991 |
| 2014 | 11,333 |
| 2015 | 11,469 |
| 2016 | 11,953 |
| 2017 | 12,013 |
| 2018 | 11,786 |
| 2019 | 11,987 |
| 2020 | 9,255 |
| 2021 | 10,221 |
| 2022 | 10,759 |
| 2023 | 10,964 |
| 2024 | 12,145 |
| 2025 | 12,148 |
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 (87.1% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 2 of the 20 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A523 collisions
Police recorded 126 collisions with the A523 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious, including 7 fatal. That is 19.0 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.8 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 94.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 |
| 2022 | 24 |
| 2023 | 22 |
| 2024 | 30 |
| 2025 | 33 |
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 |
|---|---|
| B5358 to A555/A523 Intersection East Cheshire, Stockport · 18 collisions | 32.7 |
| B5331 to A54 Staffordshire, East Cheshire · 13 collisions | 19.7 |
| A536 to Winterton Way, Macclesfield East Cheshire · 10 collisions | 18.5 |
| A537 W to B5091 East Cheshire · 15 collisions | 13.8 |
| A524 to Mount Rd, Leek Staffordshire · 14 collisions | 10.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 12 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A523 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 A523
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Staffordshire
- East Cheshire
- Stockport
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 | 20 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 126 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.