A-road

A555 traffic and collisions

The A555 is an A-road of 8.7 miles, from Stockport to Manchester. This page covers its traffic at 12 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
12 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 117m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 36,677 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 56,006 A5102 to A34
  • HGV share 4.0% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +56.6% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 40 8.2 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A555?

On an average day in 2025, 36,677 vehicles passed each point on the A555, counting both directions. The busiest section is A5102 to A34 (Stockport, East Cheshire), with 56,006 a day; the quietest listed is Junction with A555 and A6 (East of Hazel Grove, Stockport) to Major Junction with A55 and A523, with 17,995.

Busiest sections, 2025

A5102 to A34 carries 1.5 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A555 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A5102 to A34 Stockport, East Cheshire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 3.6% 56,006
Roundabout where A555 joins the A5149 Chester Road (North of Walnut-Tree Farm, Stockport) to Junction where A5102 overpasses the A555 Dual Carriageway Stockport · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.1% 43,450
A34 roundabout to Junction with Outwood Lane and Ringway Road West East Cheshire, Stockport, Manchester · 2.7 mi · HGVs 3.8% 39,160
A34 to A34 roundabout Stockport · 0.7 mi · HGVs 3.3% 38,414
Major Junction with A55 and A523 to Roundabout where A555 joins the A5149 Chester Road (North of Walnut-Tree Farm, Stockport) Stockport, East Cheshire · 2.1 mi · HGVs 5.0% 23,329
Junction with A555 and A6 (East of Hazel Grove, Stockport) to Major Junction with A55 and A523 Stockport · 0.9 mi · HGVs 5.8% 17,995

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Stockport to Manchester · 8.7 miles

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

A555 traffic and collisions by section

6 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 A555 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1Junction with A555 and A6 (East of Hazel Grove, Stockport) to Major Junction with A55 and A523Stockport0.917,9955.8%+10.5%5
2Major Junction with A55 and A523 to Roundabout where A555 joins the A5149 Chester Road (North of Walnut-Tree Farm, Stockport)Stockport, East Cheshire2.123,3295.0%+7.2%4
3Roundabout where A555 joins the A5149 Chester Road (North of Walnut-Tree Farm, Stockport) to Junction where A5102 overpasses the A555 Dual CarriagewayStockport0.643,4504.1%+48.4%4
4A5102 to A34Stockport, East Cheshire1.756,0063.6%+36.4%5
5A34 to A34 roundaboutStockport0.738,4143.3%+25.5%6
6A34 roundabout to Junction with Outwood Lane and Ringway Road WestEast Cheshire, Stockport, Manchester2.739,1603.8%+205.4%1510.5

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A555 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.

A555 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 82.1% of the vehicle miles on the A555. HGVs account for 4.0%, rising to 5.8% on Junction with A555 and A6 (East of Hazel Grove, Stockport) to Major Junction with A55 and A523.

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 A555, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.0%
2001 2.7%
2002 2.7%
2003 2.7%
2004 2.8%
2005 2.8%
2006 2.8%
2007 2.6%
2008 2.6%
2009 2.5%
2010 2.2%
2011 2.2%
2012 2.5%
2013 2.6%
2014 2.5%
2015 2.5%
2016 2.5%
2017 2.6%
2018 2.7%
2019 3.8%
2020 5.7%
2021 5.6%
2022 5.5%
2023 4.8%
2024 4.1%
2025 4.0%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A555 traffic trend

Traffic on the A555 came to 117 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 56.6% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 158.5% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 172.3% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A555 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 16m
2001 16m
2002 17m
2003 15m
2004 16m
2005 16m
2006 16m
2007 16m
2008 16m
2009 17m
2010 17m
2011 17m
2012 16m
2013 16m
2014 16m
2015 17m
2016 17m
2017 17m
2018 18m
2019 74m
2020 66m
2021 77m
2022 84m
2023 96m
2024 116m
2025 117m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A555, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 18,138
2001 18,600
2002 19,090
2003 17,591
2004 17,986
2005 17,822
2006 18,058
2007 18,338
2008 18,168
2009 19,857
2010 18,968
2011 18,933
2012 18,198
2013 18,123
2014 18,618
2015 19,267
2016 19,650
2017 19,731
2018 19,859
2019 23,422
2020 20,824
2021 24,327
2022 26,329
2023 30,155
2024 36,366
2025 36,677

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

A555 collisions

Police recorded 40 collisions with the A555 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 13 of them fatal or serious. That is 8.2 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.9 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 333.3% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A555 by year
Year Collisions
2021 3
2022 9
2023 9
2024 6
2025 13

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 A555, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A34 roundabout to Junction with Outwood Lane and Ringway Road West East Cheshire, Stockport, Manchester · 15 collisions 10.5

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

A further 6 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A555 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 97.5% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A555

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

  • Stockport
  • East Cheshire
  • 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 12 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 40 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.