A-road
A723 traffic and collisions
The A723 is an A-road of 13.2 miles, from North Lanarkshire to South Lanarkshire. This page covers its traffic at 9 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 62m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 12,826 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 44,197 M74 to A72
- HGV share 2.3% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −0.2% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 42 14.3 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A723?
On an average day in 2025, 12,826 vehicles passed each point on the A723, counting both directions. The busiest section is M74 to A72 (South Lanarkshire), with 44,197 a day; the quietest listed is Ambleside Rise, Meikle Earnock to A726, with 5,610.
Busiest sections, 2025
M74 to A72 carries 3.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| M74 to A72 South Lanarkshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 44,197 |
| Count point 92123 North Lanarkshire · 3.1 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 17,364 |
| A721 to M74 North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire · 1.3 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 17,241 |
| A723 to Ambleside Rise, Meikle Earnock South Lanarkshire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 13,583 |
| Ambleside Rise, Meikle Earnock to A726 South Lanarkshire · 5.7 mi · HGVs 4.8% | 5,610 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
North Lanarkshire to South Lanarkshire · 13.2 miles
A723 traffic and collisions by section
8 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 | Count point 92123North Lanarkshire | 17,364 | 9 |
| 2 | A721 to M74North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire | 17,241 | 9 |
| 3 | M74 to A72South Lanarkshire | 44,197 | 0 |
| 4 | At A72South Lanarkshire | 26,682 | fewer than 3 |
| 5 | A72 to A724South Lanarkshire | 22,171 | 0 |
| 6 | A723 to Ambleside Rise, Meikle EarnockSouth Lanarkshire | 13,583 | 12 |
| 7 | Ambleside Rise, Meikle Earnock to A726South Lanarkshire | 5,610 | 9 |
| 8 | A726 to B743 Muirkirk RoadSouth Lanarkshire | 4,248 | fewer than 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A723 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.
A723 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 81.6% of the vehicle miles on the A723. HGVs account for 2.3%, rising to 4.8% on Ambleside Rise, Meikle Earnock to A726.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.7% |
| 2001 | 3.3% |
| 2002 | 3.2% |
| 2003 | 3.2% |
| 2004 | 3.4% |
| 2005 | 3.8% |
| 2006 | 3.9% |
| 2007 | 3.8% |
| 2008 | 3.9% |
| 2009 | 3.4% |
| 2010 | 3.4% |
| 2011 | 3.4% |
| 2012 | 3.4% |
| 2013 | 2.8% |
| 2014 | 2.8% |
| 2015 | 2.7% |
| 2016 | 2.7% |
| 2017 | 2.7% |
| 2018 | 2.6% |
| 2019 | 2.6% |
| 2020 | 2.5% |
| 2021 | 2.2% |
| 2022 | 2.4% |
| 2023 | 2.3% |
| 2024 | 2.3% |
| 2025 | 2.3% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A723 traffic trend
Traffic on the A723 came to 61.8 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is about the same as in 2019, before the pandemic, and about the same as in 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 5.8% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 55m |
| 2001 | 51m |
| 2002 | 52m |
| 2003 | 52m |
| 2004 | 52m |
| 2005 | 52m |
| 2006 | 54m |
| 2007 | 52m |
| 2008 | 50m |
| 2009 | 51m |
| 2010 | 51m |
| 2011 | 50m |
| 2012 | 50m |
| 2013 | 49m |
| 2014 | 51m |
| 2015 | 51m |
| 2016 | 52m |
| 2017 | 52m |
| 2018 | 54m |
| 2019 | 55m |
| 2020 | 47m |
| 2021 | 53m |
| 2022 | 59m |
| 2023 | 60m |
| 2024 | 61m |
| 2025 | 62m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 12,278 |
| 2001 | 11,524 |
| 2002 | 11,733 |
| 2003 | 11,601 |
| 2004 | 11,638 |
| 2005 | 11,771 |
| 2006 | 12,076 |
| 2007 | 11,750 |
| 2008 | 11,199 |
| 2009 | 11,449 |
| 2010 | 11,417 |
| 2011 | 11,300 |
| 2012 | 11,112 |
| 2013 | 11,084 |
| 2014 | 11,347 |
| 2015 | 11,478 |
| 2016 | 11,741 |
| 2017 | 11,772 |
| 2018 | 11,871 |
| 2019 | 11,920 |
| 2020 | 10,081 |
| 2021 | 11,239 |
| 2022 | 12,523 |
| 2023 | 12,762 |
| 2024 | 12,960 |
| 2025 | 12,826 |
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 (33.3% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 9 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A723 collisions
Police recorded 42 collisions with the A723 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal. That is 14.3 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 60.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2025 | 8 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A723 to Ambleside Rise, Meikle Earnock South Lanarkshire · 12 collisions | 29.4 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 14 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A723 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 A723
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- North Lanarkshire
- South Lanarkshire
Roadworks on the A723 in Scotland
The Scottish Road Works Register lists 1 set of roadworks on the A723 in Scotland, 1 of them under way. From the extract of 16 September 2026.
-
A723 Carfin - Holytown Link Road, Motherwell
Works in Scotland only, and only where the register records them against the road number. The register publishes one extract a day, so works can start, finish or change after it is taken. Roadworks across Scotland
Source:SRWR Extract of 2026-09-16 Updated
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 | 9 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 42 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Roadworks | Scottish Road Works Register open data Scottish Road Works Commissioner | Extract of 2026-09-16 | 22,074 sets of roadworks recorded in Scotland | 16 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.