Motorway
A74(M) traffic and collisions
The A74(M) is a motorway of 49.7 miles in Scotland and England, from South Lanarkshire to Cumberland. This page covers its traffic at 13 DfT count points since 2010 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 681m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 37,540 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 42,317 J22 to A6071
- HGV share 23.0% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +3.7% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 89 2.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A74(M)?
On an average day in 2025, 37,540 vehicles passed each point on the A74(M), counting both directions. The busiest section is J22 to A6071 (Dumfries & Galloway, Cumberland), with 42,317 a day; the quietest listed is J17 to J18, with 34,650.
Busiest sections, 2025
J22 to A6071 carries 1.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| J22 to A6071 Dumfries & Galloway, Cumberland · 1.0 mi · HGVs 21.5% | 42,317 |
| A702 to J15 South Lanarkshire, Dumfries & Galloway · 13.8 mi · HGVs 20.2% | 40,343 |
| At A702 South Lanarkshire · 5.0 mi · HGVs 26.9% | 38,343 |
| J19 to J20 Dumfries & Galloway · 2.2 mi · HGVs 23.2% | 37,072 |
| J18 to J19 Dumfries & Galloway · 4.3 mi · HGVs 22.5% | 36,994 |
| J21 to Gretna Dumfries & Galloway · 2.0 mi · HGVs 25.5% | 36,936 |
| Gretna to J22 Dumfries & Galloway · 1.3 mi · HGVs 26.5% | 36,547 |
| J20 to J21 Dumfries & Galloway · 4.0 mi · HGVs 26.1% | 36,520 |
| J15 to J16 Dumfries & Galloway · 7.2 mi · HGVs 19.9% | 35,421 |
| J16 to J17 Dumfries & Galloway · 6.7 mi · HGVs 26.1% | 35,168 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2010 to 2025 Updated
Route
South Lanarkshire to Cumberland · 49.7 miles
A74(M) 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 | At A702South Lanarkshire | 38,343 | 8 |
| 2 | A702 to J15South Lanarkshire, Dumfries & Galloway | 40,343 | 28 |
| 3 | J15 to J16Dumfries & Galloway | 35,421 | 14 |
| 4 | J16 to J17Dumfries & Galloway | 35,168 | 10 |
| 5 | J17 to J18Dumfries & Galloway | 34,650 | fewer than 3 |
| 6 | J18 to J19Dumfries & Galloway | 36,994 | 11 |
| 7 | J19 to J20Dumfries & Galloway | 37,072 | 4 |
| 8 | J20 to J21Dumfries & Galloway | 36,520 | 4 |
| 9 | J21 to GretnaDumfries & Galloway | 36,936 | 4 |
| 10 | Gretna to J22Dumfries & Galloway | 36,547 | fewer than 3 |
| 11 | J22 to A6071Dumfries & Galloway, Cumberland | 42,317 | 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A74(M) 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.
A74(M) traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 56.8% of the vehicle miles on the A74(M). HGVs account for 23.0%, rising to 26.9% on At A702.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2010 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 18.6% |
| 2011 | 20.5% |
| 2012 | 20.4% |
| 2013 | 23.1% |
| 2014 | 22.7% |
| 2015 | 22.8% |
| 2016 | 23.0% |
| 2017 | 23.4% |
| 2018 | 21.1% |
| 2019 | 22.1% |
| 2020 | 27.6% |
| 2021 | 25.9% |
| 2022 | 23.8% |
| 2023 | 22.9% |
| 2024 | 22.9% |
| 2025 | 23.0% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2010 to 2025 Updated
A74(M) traffic trend
Traffic on the A74(M) came to 681 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 3.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 12.7% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 5.3m |
| 2011 | 2.9m |
| 2012 | 5.7m |
| 2013 | 5.1m |
| 2014 | 5.3m |
| 2015 | 5.4m |
| 2016 | 5.5m |
| 2017 | 5.6m |
| 2018 | 5.7m |
| 2019 | 657m |
| 2020 | 474m |
| 2021 | 597m |
| 2022 | 662m |
| 2023 | 673m |
| 2024 | 669m |
| 2025 | 681m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2010 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 36,156 |
| 2011 | 40,391 |
| 2012 | 39,231 |
| 2013 | 34,953 |
| 2014 | 36,132 |
| 2015 | 37,132 |
| 2016 | 37,866 |
| 2017 | 38,561 |
| 2018 | 39,335 |
| 2019 | 36,212 |
| 2020 | 26,108 |
| 2021 | 32,900 |
| 2022 | 36,494 |
| 2023 | 37,087 |
| 2024 | 36,872 |
| 2025 | 37,540 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2010 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, 11 of the 13 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A74(M) collisions
Police recorded 89 collisions with the A74(M) as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 43 of them fatal or serious. That is 2.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 0.4 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 6.3% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | 10 |
| 2022 | 12 | 10 |
| 2023 | 9 | 8 |
| 2024 | 8 | 9 |
| 2025 | 11 | 6 |
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 |
|---|---|
| J18 to J19 Dumfries & Galloway · 11 collisions | 3.9 |
| J15 to J16 Dumfries & Galloway · 14 collisions | 3.1 |
| A702 to J15 South Lanarkshire, Dumfries & Galloway · 28 collisions | 2.9 |
| J16 to J17 Dumfries & Galloway · 10 collisions | 2.4 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A74(M)
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- South Lanarkshire
- Dumfries & Galloway
- Cumberland
Planned closures on the A74(M) in England
National Highways has 6 planned closures on the A74(M) between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, all of them starting in that period., and 6 start between 7pm and 6am.
-
Lane or slip M6 Southbound Jct 44 Lane 3/2 closure becoming hardshoulder running (Mp 507/8 - 494/8)
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Lane or slip M6 Southbound Jct 44 Lane 3/2 closure becoming hardshoulder running (Mp 507/8 - 494/8)
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Lane or slip M6 Southbound Jct 44 Lane 3/2 closure becoming hardshoulder running (Mp 507/8 - 494/8)
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Lane or slip M6 Southbound Jct 44 Lane 3/2 closure becoming hardshoulder running (Mp 507/8 - 494/8)
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Lane or slip M6 Southbound Scotland Border to Jct 44 Lane 1 and 2 closure (Mp 503/7 - 498/7)
-
Lane or slip M6 Southbound Jct 44 Lane 3/2 closure becoming hardshoulder running (Mp 507/8 - 494/8)
Planned closures only: National Highways can cancel or change them, and closures caused by incidents are not shown. Council roads in England are not covered. Roadworks and closures across the UK
Source:National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 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 | 2010 to 2025 | 13 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 89 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Planned closures | Transport Data Feeds (DATEX II) National Highways | 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 | 2,304 planned closure schemes | 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.
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