M60 Junction 22 to Junction 23

The stretch of the M60 nearest Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, carrying 131,795 vehicles a day — above the average for this motorway. Live news for this stretch is below, then the official counts.

How busy is the M60 at Junction 23?

The Department for Transport counts this stretch over 1.3 miles. These are the 2025 figures, an annual average of vehicles per day across both carriageways.

That puts it 5.6% above the M60 average of 124,808 vehicles a day per count point. On lorries it sits firmly in the light half of the ring — 4.2% against 12.0% on Junction 14 to 15, the motorway’s freight route.

Why this page is titled by two junctions

The Department for Transport records this section twice, once as running from Junction 23 and once as running to Junction 22, because the count point sits on a local authority boundary. They are the same measurement, not two. We publish it once, under both junction numbers, rather than counting the same traffic twice or picking one label and leaving you to wonder about the other.

Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and what it means for this stretch

Manchester City play at the Etihad Stadium in east Manchester, a short distance from this part of the ring. The club moved there from Maine Road in 2003. For a driver on the M60 it means a crowd of a little over fifty thousand arriving and leaving near this stretch, nineteen times a season in the league alone.

Manchester City’s own travel directions send drivers off the M60 at Junction 23, onto the A635 towards Manchester and then the A662 Ashton New Road.

The figure barely moves — under 800 across three seasons — so this is a predictable load on the roads around Junction 23 rather than a variable one. Every visiting club is entitled to a minimum away allocation, set by Premier League Rule R.9 at 3,000 tickets for grounds holding more than 30,000. Estimated 57,000 away supporters a season — basis: the 3,000 minimum multiplied by 19 home league matches. It is the minimum a club must offer, not a count of who travels, and it excludes cup and European fixtures.

We have not published a capacity figure for the Etihad. Two reputable sources give different numbers, and we would rather leave a figure out than print one we cannot stand behind.

What we can honestly say about match days — and what we cannot

It is reasonable to expect this part of the M60 to be busier around a home fixture. We cannot yet prove it, so we do not claim it. The counts above are annual averages with no breakdown by day or hour — the right data for “how busy is this road?” and the wrong data for “how busy is it on a Saturday at five o’clock?”

Nor will we turn a crowd into a car count. 52,640 spectators is not 52,640 vehicles. The Etihad is served directly by Metrolink and no published figure exists for how many supporters arrive by road. What is current on this page is the live M60 traffic news at the top.

Traffic count figures on this page are from the Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025. Annual average daily flow, both carriageways combined. Live incidents and roadworks: Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.