Trunk A-road
A749 traffic and collisions
The A749 is a trunk A-road of 7.6 miles, from South Lanarkshire to Glasgow City. This page covers its traffic at 11 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 43m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 15,547 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 26,955 A749 spur to A725 to B759 Greenlees Rd
- HGV share 1.6% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −3.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 56 27.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A749?
On an average day in 2025, 15,547 vehicles passed each point on the A749, counting both directions. The busiest section is A749 spur to A725 to B759 Greenlees Rd (South Lanarkshire), with 26,955 a day; the quietest listed is Junction A728/A749 to Junction A74 (Arcadia Road) / A749, with 5,021.
Busiest sections, 2025
A749 spur to A725 to B759 Greenlees Rd carries 1.7 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A749 spur to A725 to B759 Greenlees Rd South Lanarkshire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 0.8% | 26,955 |
| A749 Kingsway to A725 Hamilton Rd South Lanarkshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 4.1% | 22,250 |
| Cathkin By-pass to A730 South Lanarkshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.9% | 15,805 |
| A730 to B768 Main Street South Lanarkshire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 11,629 |
| A724 to A74 South Lanarkshire, Glasgow City · 0.8 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 10,876 |
| Junction A749 (London Road) /A74 to Junction A749/A8 Glasgow City · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 6,434 |
| Junction A728/A749 to Junction A74 (Arcadia Road) / A749 Glasgow City · 0.8 mi · HGVs 0.6% | 5,021 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
South Lanarkshire to Glasgow City · 7.6 miles
A749 traffic and collisions by section
9 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.3 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A749 Kingsway to A725 Hamilton RdSouth Lanarkshire | 22,250 | fewer than 3 |
| 2 | A749 spur to A725 to B759 Greenlees RdSouth Lanarkshire | 26,955 | 13 |
| 3 | B759 Greenlees Road to Cathkin By-passSouth Lanarkshire | 18,592 | 0 |
| 4 | Cathkin By-pass to A730South Lanarkshire | 15,805 | 4 |
| 5 | A730 to B768 Main StreetSouth Lanarkshire | 11,629 | 9 |
| 6 | B768 Main Street to A724South Lanarkshire | 12,165 | 4 |
| 7 | A724 to A74South Lanarkshire, Glasgow City | 10,876 | 6 |
| 8 | Junction A728/A749 to Junction A74 (Arcadia Road) / A749Glasgow City | 5,021 | 8 |
| 9 | Junction A749 (London Road) /A74 to Junction A749/A8Glasgow City | 6,434 | 7 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A749 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.
A749 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 81.8% of the vehicle miles on the A749. HGVs account for 1.6%, rising to 4.1% on A749 Kingsway to A725 Hamilton Rd.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.6% |
| 2001 | 2.6% |
| 2002 | 2.6% |
| 2003 | 2.6% |
| 2004 | 3.0% |
| 2005 | 3.9% |
| 2006 | 3.8% |
| 2007 | 4.0% |
| 2008 | 4.0% |
| 2009 | 3.5% |
| 2010 | 3.6% |
| 2011 | 3.0% |
| 2012 | 3.1% |
| 2013 | 2.7% |
| 2014 | 2.7% |
| 2015 | 2.6% |
| 2016 | 2.6% |
| 2017 | 2.7% |
| 2018 | 2.3% |
| 2019 | 2.2% |
| 2020 | 2.5% |
| 2021 | 1.8% |
| 2022 | 1.6% |
| 2023 | 1.5% |
| 2024 | 1.5% |
| 2025 | 1.6% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A749 traffic trend
Traffic on the A749 came to 43.1 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 3.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 3.2% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 0.7% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 45m |
| 2001 | 45m |
| 2002 | 46m |
| 2003 | 46m |
| 2004 | 47m |
| 2005 | 46m |
| 2006 | 46m |
| 2007 | 47m |
| 2008 | 46m |
| 2009 | 45m |
| 2010 | 45m |
| 2011 | 47m |
| 2012 | 47m |
| 2013 | 46m |
| 2014 | 48m |
| 2015 | 49m |
| 2016 | 50m |
| 2017 | 50m |
| 2018 | 43m |
| 2019 | 43m |
| 2020 | 33m |
| 2021 | 38m |
| 2022 | 40m |
| 2023 | 41m |
| 2024 | 42m |
| 2025 | 43m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 16,719 |
| 2001 | 16,716 |
| 2002 | 17,063 |
| 2003 | 17,088 |
| 2004 | 17,491 |
| 2005 | 17,123 |
| 2006 | 16,985 |
| 2007 | 17,290 |
| 2008 | 17,074 |
| 2009 | 16,699 |
| 2010 | 16,678 |
| 2011 | 17,400 |
| 2012 | 17,443 |
| 2013 | 17,096 |
| 2014 | 17,616 |
| 2015 | 18,144 |
| 2016 | 18,568 |
| 2017 | 18,532 |
| 2018 | 15,632 |
| 2019 | 15,743 |
| 2020 | 12,160 |
| 2021 | 13,863 |
| 2022 | 14,757 |
| 2023 | 15,053 |
| 2024 | 15,357 |
| 2025 | 15,547 |
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 (67.1% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 11 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A749 collisions
Police recorded 56 collisions with the A749 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 27 of them fatal or serious. That is 27.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.5 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 44.4% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | 4 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4 |
| 2023 | 7 | 7 |
| 2024 | 6 | 6 |
| 2025 | 7 | 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 |
|---|---|
| A749 spur to A725 to B759 Greenlees Rd South Lanarkshire · 13 collisions | 16.2 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 6 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A749 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 A749
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- South Lanarkshire
- Glasgow City
Roadworks on the A749 in Scotland
The Scottish Road Works Register lists 1 set of roadworks on the A749 in Scotland, 0 of them under way. 1 close the road, a lane or a slip road. From the extract of 16 September 2026.
-
A749 Glasgow Road, East Kilbride
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 | 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 | 56 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.