Motorway
M26 traffic and collisions
The M26 is a motorway of 9.8 miles, in Kent. This page covers its traffic at 2 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 151m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 42,084 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 56,019 J2A to M20
- HGV share 11.2% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −8.9% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 38 4.9 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M26?
On an average day in 2025, 42,084 vehicles passed each point on the M26, counting both directions. The busiest section is J2A to M20 (Kent), with 56,019 a day; the quietest listed is M25 to J2A, with 40,140.
Busiest sections, 2025
J2A to M20 carries 1.3 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| J2A to M20 Kent · 1.2 mi · HGVs 9.7% | 56,019 |
| M25 to J2A Kent · 8.6 mi · HGVs 11.5% | 40,140 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Kent · 9.8 miles
M26 traffic and collisions by section
2 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 | M25 to J2AKent | 40,140 | 24 |
| 2 | J2A to M20Kent | 56,019 | 14 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M26 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.
M26 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 66.2% of the vehicle miles on the M26. HGVs account for 11.2%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.3% |
| 2001 | 12.8% |
| 2002 | 13.2% |
| 2003 | 15.2% |
| 2004 | 15.5% |
| 2005 | 15.3% |
| 2006 | 13.7% |
| 2007 | 17.2% |
| 2008 | 16.5% |
| 2009 | 14.8% |
| 2010 | 14.6% |
| 2011 | 12.0% |
| 2012 | 11.4% |
| 2013 | 11.5% |
| 2014 | 11.3% |
| 2015 | 13.2% |
| 2016 | 13.2% |
| 2017 | 13.3% |
| 2018 | 13.5% |
| 2019 | 13.3% |
| 2020 | 16.8% |
| 2021 | 16.1% |
| 2022 | 13.0% |
| 2023 | 12.5% |
| 2024 | 11.1% |
| 2025 | 11.2% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M26 traffic trend
Traffic on the M26 came to 151 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 8.9% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 14.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 5.8% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 160m |
| 2001 | 163m |
| 2002 | 166m |
| 2003 | 161m |
| 2004 | 160m |
| 2005 | 165m |
| 2006 | 138m |
| 2007 | 172m |
| 2008 | 172m |
| 2009 | 169m |
| 2010 | 189m |
| 2011 | 208m |
| 2012 | 203m |
| 2013 | 200m |
| 2014 | 203m |
| 2015 | 175m |
| 2016 | 178m |
| 2017 | 181m |
| 2018 | 189m |
| 2019 | 165m |
| 2020 | 123m |
| 2021 | 142m |
| 2022 | 163m |
| 2023 | 167m |
| 2024 | 157m |
| 2025 | 151m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 44,661 |
| 2001 | 45,693 |
| 2002 | 46,451 |
| 2003 | 44,884 |
| 2004 | 44,753 |
| 2005 | 46,158 |
| 2006 | 38,536 |
| 2007 | 47,998 |
| 2008 | 47,953 |
| 2009 | 47,311 |
| 2010 | 52,812 |
| 2011 | 58,144 |
| 2012 | 56,732 |
| 2013 | 55,827 |
| 2014 | 56,699 |
| 2015 | 48,947 |
| 2016 | 49,656 |
| 2017 | 50,590 |
| 2018 | 52,757 |
| 2019 | 46,209 |
| 2020 | 34,488 |
| 2021 | 39,625 |
| 2022 | 45,476 |
| 2023 | 46,573 |
| 2024 | 43,982 |
| 2025 | 42,084 |
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, 1 of the 2 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M26 collisions
Police recorded 38 collisions with the M26 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 10 of them fatal or serious. That is 4.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 0.8 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 12.5% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2024 | 10 |
| 2025 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|
| J2A to M20 Kent · 14 collisions | 10.2 |
| M25 to J2A Kent · 24 collisions | 3.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 3 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M26 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 100.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the M26
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Kent
Planned closures on the M26 in England
National Highways has 4 planned closures on the M26 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, all of them starting in that period. 3 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 4 start between 7pm and 6am.
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Carriageway M26 Eastbound Jct 2A entry slip road closure
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Carriageway M26 Eastbound Jct 2A to Jct 3 carriageway closure
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Lane or slip M26 Eastbound Jct 2 to Jct 2A lane 2 closure
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Carriageway M26 Eastbound Jct 2A to Jct 3 carriageway closure
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 | 2000 to 2025 | 2 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 38 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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