Pre-1977 The
Great North Road and later the first incarnation of the A1 passed directly through
Low Fell,
Gateshead,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
Gosforth and
Wideopen before rejoining the current A1 at
Seaton Burn. The Great North Road was effectively diverted from the
Swing Bridge to the
Tyne Bridge when it opened on 25 February 1928, the A1 passing up
Pilgrim Street and
Northumberland Street. When John Dobson Street opened in May 1970, most of the A1 traffic flowed away from the congested Northumberland Street. Then later, the first incarnation of Newcastle's Central Motorway built during the 1970s, opening in 1975, and passing just to the east of Newcastle City Centre, was initially numbered A1(M), before being renumbered the A6127(M) then the A167(M). The portion of Great North Road through Gateshead and Newcastle has had a number of designations since it ceased being the A1 in 1977. Between 1977 and 1993, it was numbered A6127 between Birtley and Newcastle (the Newcastle Central Motorway being renumbered A6127(M) at this time) and A6125 between Newcastle and Seaton Burn—both road numbers are now redundant. Since 1993, the Birtley to Newcastle section has formed part of the
A167 (the Central Motorway being renumbered A167(M)) and the Newcastle to Seaton Burn A6125 section has been the B1318.
1977 to 1993 After the opening of the
Tyne Tunnel on 19 October 1967, the main route for traffic around Gateshead and Newcastle was diverted to the east. With completion of the A1(M) through
County Durham in the 1970s, from 1977 onward the A1 ran as the A1(M) from Birtley past the north of
Washington to the Newcastle Road / Leam Lane junction near
Wardley (this section is now numbered
A194(M)). It then ran east to Testo's Roundabout near
West Boldon, following what is now a section of the
A184. At Testos Roundabout, the A1 turned north following what is now the northern section of the
A19 towards
Jarrow and the
Tyne Tunnel. North of the Tyne Tunnel, the A1 passed through
Howdon, before it continued in a north-westerly direction, through North Tyneside past
Killingworth and
Cramlington, rejoining the current A1, just north of Newcastle at Seaton Burn. Again, this section of road has been redesignated
A19. The section of road now forming the A19 between Testo's Roundabout and Seaton Burn was numbered the A108 (encompassing also the A19 Sunderland bypass) prior to it being numbered the A1 then A19 as detailed above.
1993 onwards The
A1 officially assumed its western route in 1993, with completion of the Newcastle Western Bypass and opening of the
Blaydon Bridge on 3 December 1990. The Gateshead Western Bypass, forming the southern part of this western route, was renumbered from
A69 to its current A1 number == Related changes to the A1 in Yorkshire and County Durham ==