Trunk A-road
A956 traffic and collisions
The A956 is a trunk A-road of 11.4 miles, from Aberdeenshire to Aberdeen City. This page covers its traffic at 9 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 70m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 16,801 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 26,522 B997 Balgownie Road to A90
- HGV share 8.6% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −11.1% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 26 7.8 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A956?
On an average day in 2025, 16,801 vehicles passed each point on the A956, counting both directions. The busiest section is B997 Balgownie Road to A90 (Aberdeen City), with 26,522 a day; the quietest listed is Roundabout connecting A90 and A956 (South of Cleanhil Wood, Aberdeenshire) to Junction with A956 and A92 (South West of Charlestown, Aberdeen City), with 11,754.
Busiest sections, 2025
B997 Balgownie Road to A90 carries 1.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| B997 Balgownie Road to A90 Aberdeen City · 0.7 mi · HGVs 4.8% | 26,522 |
| A945 to A93 Aberdeen City · 0.8 mi · HGVs 6.9% | 22,711 |
| Souter Head Road roundabout to A945 Aberdeen City · 2.0 mi · HGVs 9.2% | 22,559 |
| A978 to B997 Balgownie Road Aberdeen City · 0.8 mi · HGVs 7.2% | 16,977 |
| A96/A9013 to A978 Aberdeen City · 1.2 mi · HGVs 7.7% | 15,730 |
| A90 to Souter Head Road roundabout Aberdeen City · 1.4 mi · HGVs 13.4% | 15,637 |
| Roundabout connecting A90 and A956 (South of Cleanhil Wood, Aberdeenshire) to Junction with A956 and A92 (South West of Charlestown, Aberdeen City) Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City · 4.1 mi · HGVs 9.1% | 11,754 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Aberdeenshire to Aberdeen City · 11.4 miles
A956 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 | Roundabout connecting A90 and A956 (South of Cleanhil Wood, Aberdeenshire) to Junction with A956 and A92 (South West of Charlestown, Aberdeen City)Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City | 11,754 | 3 |
| 2 | A90 to Souter Head Road roundaboutAberdeen City | 15,637 | fewer than 3 |
| 3 | Souter Head Road roundabout to A945Aberdeen City | 22,559 | 9 |
| 4 | A945 to A93Aberdeen City | 22,711 | 0 |
| 5 | A93 to A96/A9013Aberdeen City | 17,845 | fewer than 3 |
| 6 | A96/A9013 to A978Aberdeen City | 15,730 | 7 |
| 7 | A978 to B997 Balgownie RoadAberdeen City | 16,977 | fewer than 3 |
| 8 | B997 Balgownie Road to A90Aberdeen City | 26,522 | 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 A956 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.
A956 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 72.9% of the vehicle miles on the A956. HGVs account for 8.6%, rising to 13.4% on A90 to Souter Head Road roundabout.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 9.0% |
| 2001 | 9.4% |
| 2002 | 8.8% |
| 2003 | 8.7% |
| 2004 | 8.6% |
| 2005 | 9.6% |
| 2006 | 9.7% |
| 2007 | 10.0% |
| 2008 | 9.9% |
| 2009 | 10.6% |
| 2010 | 10.7% |
| 2011 | 9.3% |
| 2012 | 9.4% |
| 2013 | 9.1% |
| 2014 | 8.4% |
| 2015 | 8.6% |
| 2016 | 8.3% |
| 2017 | 8.4% |
| 2018 | 9.3% |
| 2019 | 8.9% |
| 2020 | 9.9% |
| 2021 | 9.7% |
| 2022 | 9.2% |
| 2023 | 8.9% |
| 2024 | 8.7% |
| 2025 | 8.6% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A956 traffic trend
Traffic on the A956 came to 69.9 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 11.1% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 18.7% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 14.7% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 61m |
| 2001 | 59m |
| 2002 | 62m |
| 2003 | 64m |
| 2004 | 64m |
| 2005 | 63m |
| 2006 | 66m |
| 2007 | 63m |
| 2008 | 61m |
| 2009 | 61m |
| 2010 | 61m |
| 2011 | 59m |
| 2012 | 59m |
| 2013 | 62m |
| 2014 | 63m |
| 2015 | 64m |
| 2016 | 66m |
| 2017 | 66m |
| 2018 | 58m |
| 2019 | 79m |
| 2020 | 54m |
| 2021 | 60m |
| 2022 | 66m |
| 2023 | 68m |
| 2024 | 69m |
| 2025 | 70m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 22,895 |
| 2001 | 22,089 |
| 2002 | 23,123 |
| 2003 | 23,959 |
| 2004 | 24,126 |
| 2005 | 23,807 |
| 2006 | 24,678 |
| 2007 | 23,746 |
| 2008 | 22,930 |
| 2009 | 22,906 |
| 2010 | 22,851 |
| 2011 | 22,265 |
| 2012 | 22,184 |
| 2013 | 23,188 |
| 2014 | 23,620 |
| 2015 | 24,064 |
| 2016 | 24,587 |
| 2017 | 24,677 |
| 2018 | 21,781 |
| 2019 | 18,901 |
| 2020 | 13,068 |
| 2021 | 14,493 |
| 2022 | 15,784 |
| 2023 | 16,447 |
| 2024 | 16,617 |
| 2025 | 16,801 |
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, 2 of the 9 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A956 collisions
Police recorded 26 collisions with the A956 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 7.8 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.5 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 14.3% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2022 | 3 |
| 2023 | 5 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| 2025 | 8 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 7 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A956 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 A956
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Aberdeenshire
- Aberdeen City
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 | 26 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.