A19: Doncaster - Seaton Burn

As a youngster I was always under the illusion that the A19 was all dual carriageway; I suppose this is because of all that civil engineering that went into the Tees flyover and the complicated free-flowing intersection with the A66 (probably one of the best types of junctions ever to be seen off the motorway network), so grand that it gave me the impression that the road would never have useless sections of single carriageway. My Dad destroyed that theory driving us up the A19 off the M62.

Being used to the dualled sections of the A19, it was shocking to realise that there are still single carriageway stretches between Doncaster, Selby, York and Thirsk. Worst still, it's still shocking to see that none of it has been dualled since.

A19

Section 1: Doncaster - Selby
The A19 starts at a junction with the A638 just to the north of Doncaster itself; this junction has been improved in recent years. It then winds its way through the suburb of Bentley and out into the countryside to the north of the urban area.

Much of the A19's course round here runs through the old Yorkshire coalfield, and there's evidence of this on the way with old slag-heaps and colliery buildings.

It then sets off north towards the village of Askern, itself with a history of mining in the area. There are some long straights north of here, and the surrounds are mostly flat as the road heads towards the M62.

From here, the village of Eggborough has been bypassed in recent years, with the new road travelling from the roundabout near the power station (there are 3 power stations in a row at this point, running west-east: Ferrybridge, Eggborough, and Drax, with its enormous chimney, to the east). The A19 then meets its previous alignment to the north of the village, before travelling through the small village of Burn. Just before Selby, and at the time of writing (Sep 2003), the town bypass is well underway and a roundabout is being constructed to meet it, which will eventually re-route the A19 to the south of the town. For now, the road heads straight towards the centre of Selby, over a level-crossing and on to a busy traffic-light junction with the A63 from Leeds. The A19 takes the major of the multiplex through the town centre, whilst crossing the old toll bridge and heading on north towards York.

Stu531

Section 2: Selby - Seaton Burn
On the unfortunate occasions that I have since travelled between Selby and Thirsk the torture of being stuck in congas of cars behind caravans slow lorries, horseboxes and the inevitable mud slinging tractor.

The York Northern By-Pass multiplexes with the A19 as the A1237, but this road was a useless piece of engineering with more roundabouts than Milton Keynes. It should have been dual with grade separation from the start but I think the traffic engineers were bribed to re-consider their figures before the thing was built.

Anyway - onward to the A19 and the horrible stretch between York and Thirsk was not helped much by the opening of the Easingwold Bypass - why single? Why not dual with grade separation? After 4 fatalities the then DoT decided that the T-junction at the north end of the by-pass should be replaced -- with another bloody roundabout. Sometimes I just get more ashamed of English road engineering.

But just as the depression sets in, Thirsk comes and the A19 becomes a propoer road -- yes dual carriageway with proper junctions, albeit some gap intersections, climbing slightly past Knayton and skirting the western edge of the North York Moors then dropping towards the Cleveland Tontine. Eventually after passing the Crathorne/Yarm exit the road hurtles towards Teesside over the Leven Viaduct. About a couple of miles from the Parkway Turn (A174) the road is raised slightly, overlooking Thornaby Industrial Estate and one of Europe's biggest housing estates known as Ingleby Barwick, giving clues that Teesside is imminent. At the Parkway the lighting columns appear then the road widens to 3 lanes, then at Acklam it becomes four before two peel off for the A66 for Stockton and Middlesbrough. At this point the area is surrounded by retail parks, and masses of industry arranged round the A66/A19 freeflowing curved concrete structures that ferry turning traffic from any direction to another. This road was improved in the late 90's as it was widened from 2 to 3 & 4 lanes between the Parkway and Norton. For once the DoT managed to do something right. Even in rush hour the road still flows quite well.

Past Tesside the road climbs to a rural landscape before hitting Peterlee and the surrounding ex-coal-mining villages all competing with place marketing billboards for industries to locate. Of course further up the road at Sunderland Nissan sits beside the A19, just before the Testo's Roundabout. At this point the A19 ended here as the A1 took over to run through the Tyne Tunnel, but the A1 moved to become an accident blackspot by the Angel of the North and the congestion hotspot known as the Western By-pass. To the east the A19 now approaches the Tyne Tunnel, soon to be replicated to offer a real alternative to the A1 during the peak rush. It wouldn't surpise me if the A1 were re-routed again after the second tunnel is completed, but as it stands the A19 continues to rejoin the A1 just north of Newcastle, before the grand old A1 itself fizzles out into a primative standard single-carriageway effort.