A-road
A857 traffic and collisions
The A857 is an A-road of 27.4 miles, in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. This page covers its traffic at 5 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 21m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 2,115 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 7,902 A866 to B8027
- HGV share 1.4% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −6.2% same count points
How busy is the A857?
On an average day in 2025, 2,115 vehicles passed each point on the A857, counting both directions. The busiest section is A866 to B8027 (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar), with 7,902 a day; the quietest listed is B8013 to Port Nis harbour, with 471.
Busiest sections, 2025
A866 to B8027 carries 3.7 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A866 to B8027 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar · 0.7 mi · HGVs 0.7% | 7,902 |
| Intersection where A858 and A857 meet (close to Barabhas) to Roundabout where A857 and A859 meet Comhairle nan Eilean Siar · 10.9 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 2,280 |
| A858 to B8013 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar · 14.9 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 1,597 |
| B8013 to Port Nis harbour Comhairle nan Eilean Siar · 0.7 mi · HGVs 0.4% | 471 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Comhairle nan Eilean Siar · 27.4 miles
A857 traffic and collisions by section
5 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 | A866 to B8027Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 7,902 | – |
| 2 | B8027 to A858Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 17,249 | – |
| 3 | Intersection where A858 and A857 meet (close to Barabhas) to Roundabout where A857 and A859 meetComhairle nan Eilean Siar | 2,280 | – |
| 4 | A858 to B8013Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 1,597 | – |
| 5 | B8013 to Port Nis harbourComhairle nan Eilean Siar | 471 | – |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A857 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.
A857 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 78.9% of the vehicle miles on the A857. HGVs account for 1.4%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.4% |
| 2001 | 3.3% |
| 2002 | 3.0% |
| 2003 | 2.5% |
| 2004 | 2.5% |
| 2005 | 2.6% |
| 2006 | 3.0% |
| 2007 | 3.1% |
| 2008 | 3.1% |
| 2009 | 3.1% |
| 2010 | 3.2% |
| 2011 | 3.1% |
| 2012 | 2.5% |
| 2013 | 2.5% |
| 2014 | 2.6% |
| 2015 | 2.7% |
| 2016 | 2.8% |
| 2017 | 1.3% |
| 2018 | 1.3% |
| 2019 | 1.4% |
| 2020 | 1.6% |
| 2021 | 1.6% |
| 2022 | 1.5% |
| 2023 | 1.4% |
| 2024 | 1.4% |
| 2025 | 1.4% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A857 traffic trend
Traffic on the A857 came to 21.2 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 6.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 4.3% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 37.3% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 19m |
| 2001 | 20m |
| 2002 | 20m |
| 2003 | 20m |
| 2004 | 20m |
| 2005 | 20m |
| 2006 | 24m |
| 2007 | 23m |
| 2008 | 23m |
| 2009 | 24m |
| 2010 | 23m |
| 2011 | 23m |
| 2012 | 25m |
| 2013 | 25m |
| 2014 | 26m |
| 2015 | 26m |
| 2016 | 25m |
| 2017 | 23m |
| 2018 | 23m |
| 2019 | 23m |
| 2020 | 17m |
| 2021 | 19m |
| 2022 | 20m |
| 2023 | 21m |
| 2024 | 21m |
| 2025 | 21m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,896 |
| 2001 | 1,937 |
| 2002 | 1,937 |
| 2003 | 2,021 |
| 2004 | 2,002 |
| 2005 | 2,014 |
| 2006 | 2,327 |
| 2007 | 2,313 |
| 2008 | 2,286 |
| 2009 | 2,326 |
| 2010 | 2,292 |
| 2011 | 2,314 |
| 2012 | 2,509 |
| 2013 | 2,506 |
| 2014 | 2,557 |
| 2015 | 2,610 |
| 2016 | 2,472 |
| 2017 | 2,309 |
| 2018 | 2,315 |
| 2019 | 2,255 |
| 2020 | 1,701 |
| 2021 | 1,875 |
| 2022 | 2,022 |
| 2023 | 2,065 |
| 2024 | 2,093 |
| 2025 | 2,115 |
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, 0 of the 5 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A857 collisions
Police recorded fewer than 3 collisions with the A857 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 7 of them fatal or serious.
Reported collisions by year
About the same in 2025 as in 2021.
| Year | Collisions | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2022 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 4 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | fewer than 3 |
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 A857
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Roadworks on the A857 in Scotland
The Scottish Road Works Register lists 2 sets of roadworks on the A857 in Scotland, 2 of them under way. From the extract of 16 September 2026.
-
A857 Lower Shader Boundary To Borve Bridge
-
A857 Lower Shader Boundary To Borve Bridge
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 | 5 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 12 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.