A-road

A576 traffic and collisions

The A576 is an A-road of 10.4 miles, from Trafford to Rochdale. This page covers its traffic at 16 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
16 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 73m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 19,175 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 45,840 A6104 to M60
  • HGV share 2.9% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −8.0% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 115 32.4 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A576?

On an average day in 2025, 19,175 vehicles passed each point on the A576, counting both directions. The busiest section is A6104 to M60 (Manchester), with 45,840 a day; the quietest listed is A5186 to A6, with 11,236.

Busiest sections, 2025

A6104 to M60 carries 2.4 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A576 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A6104 to M60 Manchester · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.7% 45,840
A665 to A6044 Manchester · 0.9 mi · HGVs 1.3% 23,075
A5081 to A57 Trafford, Salford · 1.7 mi · HGVs 7.2% 19,592
M602 to A5185 Salford · 0.6 mi · HGVs 3.2% 17,728
A6 to A5066 Salford · 1.3 mi · HGVs 2.1% 16,096
A6045 to A664 Rochdale · 1.6 mi · HGVs 2.1% 14,804
A6010 to A665 Salford · 0.9 mi · HGVs 1.3% 13,048
A5185 to A5186 Salford · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.3% 12,048
A5186 to A6 Salford · 0.5 mi · HGVs 2.4% 11,236

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Trafford to Rochdale · 10.4 miles

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

A576 traffic and collisions by section

15 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 A576 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A5081 to A57Trafford, Salford1.719,5927.2%−20.6%8
2A57 to M602Salford0.227,2656.3%−8.1%fewer than 3
3M602 to A5185Salford0.617,7283.2%−6.1%1474.4
4At A5185Salford0.117,7283.2%−6.1%fewer than 3
5A5185 to A5186Salford1.112,0482.3%−5.9%5
6A5186 to A6Salford0.511,2362.4%−17.2%3
7A6 to A5066Salford1.316,0962.1%−11.7%2051.1
8A5066 to A56Salford0.216,1501.9%−5.4%3
9A56 to A6010Salford0.219,6571.8%+5.6%7
10A6010 to A665Salford0.913,0481.3%−25.4%1458.4
11A665 to A6044Manchester0.923,0751.3%−1.9%1130.2
12A6044 to A6104Manchester0.341,1891.4%−5.0%10
13A6104 to M60Manchester0.645,8401.7%+7.0%7
14M60 to A6045Bury0.226,1761.9%−2.6%fewer than 3
15A6045 to A664Rochdale1.614,8042.1%+2.8%8

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A576 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.

A576 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 81.9% of the vehicle miles on the A576. HGVs account for 2.9%, rising to 7.2% on A5081 to A57.

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 A576, by year
Year HGV share
2000 4.6%
2001 4.3%
2002 4.1%
2003 4.3%
2004 4.6%
2005 4.6%
2006 4.4%
2007 4.2%
2008 4.7%
2009 4.1%
2010 4.2%
2011 4.3%
2012 4.0%
2013 4.0%
2014 3.9%
2015 3.7%
2016 3.5%
2017 3.4%
2018 3.3%
2019 3.3%
2020 3.5%
2021 3.4%
2022 3.2%
2023 3.1%
2024 3.0%
2025 2.9%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A576 traffic trend

Traffic on the A576 came to 72.8 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 8.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 0.6% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 5.0% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A576 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 73m
2001 73m
2002 70m
2003 66m
2004 71m
2005 69m
2006 68m
2007 68m
2008 66m
2009 67m
2010 66m
2011 67m
2012 67m
2013 67m
2014 69m
2015 70m
2016 75m
2017 76m
2018 79m
2019 79m
2020 59m
2021 66m
2022 71m
2023 73m
2024 73m
2025 73m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A576, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 20,253
2001 20,207
2002 19,341
2003 18,376
2004 19,666
2005 18,977
2006 18,763
2007 18,896
2008 18,341
2009 18,512
2010 18,232
2011 18,524
2012 18,647
2013 18,628
2014 19,212
2015 19,413
2016 20,725
2017 20,921
2018 20,667
2019 20,849
2020 15,499
2021 17,253
2022 18,755
2023 19,195
2024 19,261
2025 19,175

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, 4 of the 16 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A576 collisions

Police recorded 115 collisions with the A576 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 34 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal. That is 32.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 2.2 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

About the same in 2025 as in 2021.

Police-reported collisions on the A576 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 157
2022 166
2023 176
2024 188
2025 157

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 A576, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
M602 to A5185 Salford · 14 collisions 74.4
A6010 to A665 Salford · 14 collisions 58.4
A6 to A5066 Salford · 20 collisions 51.1
A665 to A6044 Manchester · 11 collisions 30.2

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

A further 34 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A576 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 A576

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

  • Trafford
  • Salford
  • Manchester
  • Bury
  • Rochdale

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 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 115 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.