Motorway
M56 traffic and collisions
The M56 is a motorway of 37.5 miles, from Stockport to West Cheshire. This page covers its traffic at 30 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 1.4bn vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 104,912 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 179,634 J3 to J4
- HGV share 8.2% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +3.8% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 278 4.3 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M56?
On an average day in 2025, 104,912 vehicles passed each point on the M56, counting both directions. The busiest section is J3 to J4 (Manchester), with 179,634 a day; the quietest listed is M56/A494 junction to J15, with 46,875.
Busiest sections, 2025
J3 to J4 carries 1.7 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| J3 to J4 Manchester · 0.9 mi · HGVs 4.2% | 179,634 |
| J4 to J5 Manchester · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.7% | 156,065 |
| J5 to J6 Manchester · 0.9 mi · HGVs 6.3% | 138,899 |
| J6 to J7 Manchester, East Cheshire · 3.5 mi · HGVs 6.6% | 131,298 |
| A557 to J14 Halton, West Cheshire · 5.3 mi · HGVs 9.7% | 127,632 |
| M6 to J10 East Cheshire, Warrington · 3.1 mi · HGVs 11.0% | 123,829 |
| J14 to M56 spur West Cheshire · 2.7 mi · HGVs 9.3% | 123,710 |
| J10 to J11 Warrington, Halton · 3.0 mi · HGVs 11.2% | 112,503 |
| J11 to J12 Halton, West Cheshire · 3.1 mi · HGVs 10.9% | 105,507 |
| M60 to J4 Stockport, Manchester · 1.3 mi · HGVs 4.9% | 99,982 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Stockport to West Cheshire · 37.5 miles
M56 traffic and collisions by section
16 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 7 short link roads and spurs (2.9 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Show all 16 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M60 to J4Stockport, Manchester | 99,982 | 10 |
| 2 | J2 to J3Manchester | 68,689 | 3 |
| 3 | J3 to J4Manchester | 179,634 | 23 |
| 4 | J4 to J5Manchester | 156,065 | 6 |
| 5 | J5 to J6Manchester | 138,899 | 8 |
| 6 | J6 to J7Manchester, East Cheshire | 131,298 | 27 |
| 7 | J7 to J8East Cheshire | 65,739 | fewer than 3 |
| 8 | J8 to J9East Cheshire | 79,533 | 12 |
| 9 | M6 to J10East Cheshire, Warrington | 123,829 | 38 |
| 10 | J10 to J11Warrington, Halton | 112,503 | 17 |
| 11 | J11 to J12Halton, West Cheshire | 105,507 | 27 |
| 12 | A557 to J14Halton, West Cheshire | 127,632 | 50 |
| 13 | J14 to M56 spurWest Cheshire | 123,710 | 23 |
| 14 | M56 spur to M53 spurWest Cheshire | 85,293 | 4 |
| 15 | M56/A494 junction to J15West Cheshire | 46,875 | 7 |
| 16 | Roundabout near Commercial Vehicle Testing Centre (Capenhurst) to M56 Dual CWYWest Cheshire | 5,571 | 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 M56 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.
M56 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 74.1% of the vehicle miles on the M56. HGVs account for 8.2%, rising to 11.2% on J10 to J11.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 10.0% |
| 2001 | 10.3% |
| 2002 | 10.7% |
| 2003 | 10.8% |
| 2004 | 10.7% |
| 2005 | 10.1% |
| 2006 | 9.9% |
| 2007 | 10.3% |
| 2008 | 10.5% |
| 2009 | 10.5% |
| 2010 | 10.9% |
| 2011 | 9.5% |
| 2012 | 9.0% |
| 2013 | 8.9% |
| 2014 | 8.4% |
| 2015 | 9.1% |
| 2016 | 9.1% |
| 2017 | 9.1% |
| 2018 | 9.1% |
| 2019 | 8.8% |
| 2020 | 12.8% |
| 2021 | 11.4% |
| 2022 | 9.4% |
| 2023 | 8.7% |
| 2024 | 8.5% |
| 2025 | 8.2% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M56 traffic trend
Traffic on the M56 came to 1.44 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 3.8% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 6.3% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 22.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.2bn |
| 2001 | 1.2bn |
| 2002 | 1.2bn |
| 2003 | 1.2bn |
| 2004 | 1.3bn |
| 2005 | 1.2bn |
| 2006 | 1.3bn |
| 2007 | 1.3bn |
| 2008 | 1.3bn |
| 2009 | 1.2bn |
| 2010 | 1.2bn |
| 2011 | 1.3bn |
| 2012 | 1.3bn |
| 2013 | 1.3bn |
| 2014 | 1.3bn |
| 2015 | 1.3bn |
| 2016 | 1.3bn |
| 2017 | 1.4bn |
| 2018 | 1.4bn |
| 2019 | 1.4bn |
| 2020 | 965m |
| 2021 | 1.1bn |
| 2022 | 1.3bn |
| 2023 | 1.3bn |
| 2024 | 1.3bn |
| 2025 | 1.4bn |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 83,666 |
| 2001 | 86,148 |
| 2002 | 86,028 |
| 2003 | 89,438 |
| 2004 | 91,689 |
| 2005 | 89,845 |
| 2006 | 92,421 |
| 2007 | 90,702 |
| 2008 | 91,448 |
| 2009 | 89,720 |
| 2010 | 90,091 |
| 2011 | 92,611 |
| 2012 | 90,704 |
| 2013 | 91,886 |
| 2014 | 96,855 |
| 2015 | 97,143 |
| 2016 | 96,993 |
| 2017 | 97,103 |
| 2018 | 96,926 |
| 2019 | 100,942 |
| 2020 | 70,281 |
| 2021 | 81,449 |
| 2022 | 92,230 |
| 2023 | 96,321 |
| 2024 | 98,484 |
| 2025 | 104,912 |
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, 26 of the 30 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M56 collisions
Police recorded 278 collisions with the M56 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 66 of them fatal or serious. That is 4.3 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 1.5 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 14.8% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | 14 |
| 2022 | 39 | 18 |
| 2023 | 44 | 14 |
| 2024 | 37 | 10 |
| 2025 | 50 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|
| J3 to J4 Manchester · 23 collisions | 9.1 |
| M6 to J10 East Cheshire, Warrington · 38 collisions | 5.9 |
| M60 to J4 Stockport, Manchester · 10 collisions | 4.8 |
| J11 to J12 Halton, West Cheshire · 27 collisions | 4.8 |
| A557 to J14 Halton, West Cheshire · 50 collisions | 4.5 |
| J14 to M56 spur West Cheshire · 23 collisions | 4.1 |
| J6 to J7 Manchester, East Cheshire · 27 collisions | 3.6 |
| J10 to J11 Warrington, Halton · 17 collisions | 3.1 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 39 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M56 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 M56
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Stockport
- Manchester
- East Cheshire
- Warrington
- Halton
- West Cheshire
Planned closures on the M56 in England
National Highways has 84 planned closures on the M56 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 83 of them starting in that period. 38 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 80 start between 7pm and 6am.
-
Lane or slip M56 Eastbound hardshoulder closure (MP 40/4 to 39/8)
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Lane or slip A556 Northbound Lane 1 closure (MP 7/0 to M56 19/3)
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Lane or slip M56 Eastbound Lanes 1 and 2 closure (MP 20/1 to 14/3)
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Lane or slip M56 both directions J8 to J5 - carriageway closure for carriageway - reconstruction/renewal on behalf of National Highways
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Lane or slip M56 Eastbound Lanes 1 and 2 closure (MP 20/1 to 14/3)
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Carriageway M56 Eastbound Jct 5 exit slip road closure
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Carriageway M56 Eastbound Jct 16 entry slip road closure
-
Carriageway M53 Southbound to M56 Eastbound link road closure
76 more planned closures in this period are not shown.
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 | 30 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 278 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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