A-road
A688 traffic and collisions
The A688 is an A-road of 25.6 miles, in Durham. This page covers its traffic at 11 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 133m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 14,236 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 24,590 A6072 to A689
- HGV share 3.7% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +8.2% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 80 12.9 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A688?
On an average day in 2025, 14,236 vehicles passed each point on the A688, counting both directions. The busiest section is A6072 to A689 (Durham), with 24,590 a day; the quietest listed is A1M to A181, with 8,003.
Busiest sections, 2025
A6072 to A689 carries 1.7 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A6072 to A689 Durham · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 24,590 |
| A167(T) to A177 Durham · 1.6 mi · HGVs 4.0% | 23,410 |
| Whitehouse Road roundabout to B6288 roundabout Durham · 0.8 mi · HGVs 2.2% | 22,087 |
| B6288 roundabout to A167 Durham · 1.1 mi · HGVs 3.3% | 21,547 |
| A688 to A6072N Durham · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.6% | 21,080 |
| A177 to A1(M) Durham · 1.5 mi · HGVs 7.8% | 18,991 |
| A689 to Whitehouse Road roundabout Durham · 3.4 mi · HGVs 3.0% | 17,026 |
| A68 to A6082 Durham · 1.4 mi · HGVs 3.0% | 16,250 |
| Barnard Castle, County Durham to Hummerbeck, County Durham Durham · 10.7 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 9,549 |
| A1M to A181 Durham · 2.7 mi · HGVs 5.0% | 8,003 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Durham · 25.6 miles
A688 traffic and collisions by section
11 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
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnard Castle, County Durham to Hummerbeck, County DurhamDurham | 9,549 | 13 |
| 2 | A68 to A6082Durham | 16,250 | 4 |
| 3 | Dilks St roundabout to A688Durham | 16,718 | 7 |
| 4 | A688 to A6072NDurham | 21,080 | 6 |
| 5 | A6072 to A689Durham | 24,590 | 10 |
| 6 | A689 to Whitehouse Road roundaboutDurham | 17,026 | 10 |
| 7 | Whitehouse Road roundabout to B6288 roundaboutDurham | 22,087 | 8 |
| 8 | B6288 roundabout to A167Durham | 21,547 | 3 |
| 9 | A167(T) to A177Durham | 23,410 | 4 |
| 10 | A177 to A1(M)Durham | 18,991 | 10 |
| 11 | A1M to A181Durham | 8,003 | 5 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A688 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.
A688 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.5% of the vehicle miles on the A688. HGVs account for 3.7%, rising to 7.8% on A177 to A1(M).
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.2% |
| 2001 | 5.4% |
| 2002 | 5.6% |
| 2003 | 5.6% |
| 2004 | 5.9% |
| 2005 | 5.4% |
| 2006 | 5.4% |
| 2007 | 5.0% |
| 2008 | 5.0% |
| 2009 | 4.2% |
| 2010 | 4.9% |
| 2011 | 4.8% |
| 2012 | 4.9% |
| 2013 | 5.2% |
| 2014 | 4.6% |
| 2015 | 4.5% |
| 2016 | 4.6% |
| 2017 | 4.5% |
| 2018 | 4.3% |
| 2019 | 4.2% |
| 2020 | 4.9% |
| 2021 | 4.6% |
| 2022 | 4.1% |
| 2023 | 3.8% |
| 2024 | 3.7% |
| 2025 | 3.7% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A688 traffic trend
Traffic on the A688 came to 133 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 8.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 13.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 37.3% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 88m |
| 2001 | 86m |
| 2002 | 88m |
| 2003 | 91m |
| 2004 | 95m |
| 2005 | 96m |
| 2006 | 98m |
| 2007 | 105m |
| 2008 | 99m |
| 2009 | 108m |
| 2010 | 104m |
| 2011 | 105m |
| 2012 | 104m |
| 2013 | 103m |
| 2014 | 106m |
| 2015 | 111m |
| 2016 | 114m |
| 2017 | 116m |
| 2018 | 120m |
| 2019 | 123m |
| 2020 | 95m |
| 2021 | 107m |
| 2022 | 121m |
| 2023 | 129m |
| 2024 | 130m |
| 2025 | 133m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 10,770 |
| 2001 | 10,565 |
| 2002 | 10,778 |
| 2003 | 11,174 |
| 2004 | 11,636 |
| 2005 | 11,820 |
| 2006 | 12,016 |
| 2007 | 12,339 |
| 2008 | 12,051 |
| 2009 | 11,768 |
| 2010 | 11,310 |
| 2011 | 11,481 |
| 2012 | 11,338 |
| 2013 | 11,228 |
| 2014 | 11,597 |
| 2015 | 12,143 |
| 2016 | 12,482 |
| 2017 | 12,639 |
| 2018 | 12,815 |
| 2019 | 13,152 |
| 2020 | 10,137 |
| 2021 | 11,478 |
| 2022 | 12,903 |
| 2023 | 13,781 |
| 2024 | 13,951 |
| 2025 | 14,236 |
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 11 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A688 collisions
Police recorded 80 collisions with the A688 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 33 of them fatal or serious, including 6 fatal. That is 12.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.6 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 13.3% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | 7 |
| 2022 | 8 | 7 |
| 2023 | 14 | 6 |
| 2024 | 9 | 4 |
| 2025 | 8 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A6072 to A689 Durham · 10 collisions | 21.5 |
| A177 to A1(M) Durham · 10 collisions | 20.9 |
| A689 to Whitehouse Road roundabout Durham · 10 collisions | 10.0 |
| Barnard Castle, County Durham to Hummerbeck, County Durham Durham · 13 collisions | 7.5 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 11 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A688 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 100.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A688
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Durham
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 | 11 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 80 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.