A-road

A636 traffic and collisions

The A636 is an A-road of 11.7 miles, from Kirklees to Wakefield. This page covers its traffic at 8 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
8 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 64m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 14,997 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 28,755 M1 jn39 to A6186
  • HGV share 2.3% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −0.5% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 82 26.9 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A636?

On an average day in 2025, 14,997 vehicles passed each point on the A636, counting both directions. The busiest section is M1 jn39 to A6186 (Wakefield), with 28,755 a day; the quietest listed is A635 to A637, with 9,985.

Busiest sections, 2025

M1 jn39 to A6186 carries 1.9 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A636 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
M1 jn39 to A6186 Wakefield · 1.0 mi · HGVs 2.9% 28,755
A6186 to A636 Charlesworth Way Wakefield · 1.4 mi · HGVs 0.7% 26,235
Hollin Lane to M1 Wakefield · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.3% 16,319
A637 to Hollin Lane, Calder Grove Wakefield · 2.5 mi · HGVs 2.3% 14,702
A635 to A637 Kirklees, Wakefield · 5.7 mi · HGVs 2.9% 9,985

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Kirklees to Wakefield · 11.7 miles

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

A636 traffic and collisions by section

6 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.2 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A636 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A635 to A637Kirklees, Wakefield5.79,9852.9%−2.7%2323.0
2A637 to Hollin Lane, Calder GroveWakefield2.514,7022.3%−0.3%1320.7
3Hollin Lane to M1Wakefield0.616,3192.3%−0.3%8
4M1 jn39 to A6186Wakefield1.028,7552.9%+4.7%1224.5
5A6186 to A636 Charlesworth WayWakefield1.426,2350.7%+0.6%1827.5
6A636 Denby Dale Road to A638Wakefield0.310,8811.3%−6.3%3

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A636 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.

A636 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 83.8% of the vehicle miles on the A636. HGVs account for 2.3%.

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 A636, by year
Year HGV share
2000 4.1%
2001 3.1%
2002 2.9%
2003 2.6%
2004 2.5%
2005 2.4%
2006 2.5%
2007 2.5%
2008 2.4%
2009 2.2%
2010 2.1%
2011 2.1%
2012 2.1%
2013 2.1%
2014 2.1%
2015 2.3%
2016 2.3%
2017 2.4%
2018 2.5%
2019 2.5%
2020 2.9%
2021 2.9%
2022 2.8%
2023 2.4%
2024 2.4%
2025 2.3%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A636 traffic trend

Traffic on the A636 came to 64 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 0.5% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 4.3% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 4.6% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A636 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 59m
2001 60m
2002 62m
2003 63m
2004 64m
2005 65m
2006 66m
2007 68m
2008 65m
2009 64m
2010 63m
2011 63m
2012 62m
2013 62m
2014 63m
2015 64m
2016 66m
2017 66m
2018 69m
2019 64m
2020 49m
2021 55m
2022 60m
2023 63m
2024 64m
2025 64m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A636, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 14,224
2001 14,445
2002 15,118
2003 15,256
2004 15,389
2005 15,856
2006 16,026
2007 16,374
2008 15,728
2009 15,492
2010 15,161
2011 15,209
2012 15,068
2013 14,987
2014 15,289
2015 15,525
2016 15,881
2017 15,943
2018 16,203
2019 15,066
2020 11,450
2021 12,967
2022 13,930
2023 14,702
2024 14,900
2025 14,997

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, 1 of the 8 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A636 collisions

Police recorded 82 collisions with the A636 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 26.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.4 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 10.5% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A636 by year
Year Collisions
2021 19
2022 13
2023 15
2024 18
2025 17

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 A636, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A6186 to A636 Charlesworth Way Wakefield · 18 collisions 27.5
M1 jn39 to A6186 Wakefield · 12 collisions 24.5
A635 to A637 Kirklees, Wakefield · 23 collisions 23.0
A637 to Hollin Lane, Calder Grove Wakefield · 13 collisions 20.7

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

A further 16 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A636 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 93.9% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A636

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

  • Kirklees
  • Wakefield

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 8 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 82 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.