A1 Western bypass widening

The study of British and Irish roads - their construction, numbering, history, mapping, past and future official roads proposals and general roads musings.

There is a separate forum for Street Furniture (traffic lights, street lights, road signs etc).

Registered users get access to other forums including discussions about other forms of transport, driving, fantasy roads and wishlists, and roads quizzes.

Moderator: Site Management Team

Post Reply
tibsy
Member
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 17:51
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by tibsy »

Orillion wrote: In the absence of anything better, I suppose we should welcome the proposals, but I am concerned about the Blaydon Bridge,
which has not been mentioned. Is it to remain with only two lanes each way? Would it be technically possible to widen the
bridge? Is there any point in widening the road if the bridge is left alone?
also the Derwenthaugh Bridge just to the South of the Blaydon bridge is a tight 2 lane bridge sandwiched between 2 junctions
Glenn A
Member
Posts: 9776
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 19:31
Location: Cumbria

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Glenn A »

McNessA720 wrote:
Orillion wrote:There are plans to widen the A1 to three lanes between the A1(M) and Coal House, and there is a suggestion of widening
to three lanes between Denton and North Brunton, albeit with narrow lanes.
Given that soon, the D2M Washington-Barton section of A1(M) is going to be bordered on either side by D3 in some form, isn't it about time that upgrading the aforementioned A1(M) to D3M should be considered? They should start with the section north of J62.

Upgrading the full Scotch Corner-Washington section was on the cards at one point.

The plan from around 1990 to 1997/8 was to have a full D3M A1 between the M25 & Tyneside. This involved upgrading all non-motorway A1 between Baldock (near Stevenage) to Scotch Corner to be upgraded to D3M & all D2M on the A1(M) to be widened so to have an extra lane. Only small parts of the scheme were built before New Labour pretty much abolished all pre-existing road plans.

EDIT: Parts of my post made no sense.
The government announced in 1990 upgrading the A1 to D3M by the end of the nineties. Instead, like everything else, only some of the upgrade was carried out and John Prescott announced in 1990 that Labour would spend the money on public transport instead. 7 years later, when Prescott took over at Transport, among his other jobs, most new roadbuilding was suspended.
User avatar
wrinkly
Member
Posts: 8986
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:17
Location: Leeds

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by wrinkly »

An announcement on Scotswood to North Brunton:

Press release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/a1-p ... e-journeys

Scheme page:

http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a ... h-brunton/

Booklet:

http://assets.highways.gov.uk/roads/roa ... cement.pdf
What does this scheme involve?

The option we are progressing with is widening, within the existing highway boundary, to three narrower lanes between junctions 74-78 and three standard lanes between junctions 78-79, retaining all existing bridges and structures. This option was selected as it:

„ Is the most cost effective option, providing
similar or greater benefis than the discounted
full lane widening option, but at a lower cost.

„ Is currently assessed as requiring no land
outside of the highway boundary, maximising
the use of the existing carriageway and
minimising the impact on the surrounding
community and environment.

„ Requires the shortest build time and it is the
simplest option to construct, meaning a safer
environment for both our workforce and
road users.
User avatar
jackal
Member
Posts: 7544
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 23:33
Location: M6

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by jackal »

Notwithstanding that description, the figure in the booklet seems to show four narrow lanes between J76 and J77.
User avatar
wrinkly
Member
Posts: 8986
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:17
Location: Leeds

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by wrinkly »

jackal wrote:Notwithstanding that description, the figure in the booklet seems to show four narrow lanes between J76 and J77.
They seem to be adding one lane everywhere, but you'd never guess from the document that it's already three lanes between junctions 74-5, 75-6 and 76-7.
User avatar
Mark Hewitt
Member
Posts: 31407
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:54
Location: Chester-le-Street

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Glenn A wrote:
McNessA720 wrote:
Orillion wrote:There are plans to widen the A1 to three lanes between the A1(M) and Coal House, and there is a suggestion of widening
to three lanes between Denton and North Brunton, albeit with narrow lanes.
Given that soon, the D2M Washington-Barton section of A1(M) is going to be bordered on either side by D3 in some form, isn't it about time that upgrading the aforementioned A1(M) to D3M should be considered? They should start with the section north of J62.

Upgrading the full Scotch Corner-Washington section was on the cards at one point.

The plan from around 1990 to 1997/8 was to have a full D3M A1 between the M25 & Tyneside. This involved upgrading all non-motorway A1 between Baldock (near Stevenage) to Scotch Corner to be upgraded to D3M & all D2M on the A1(M) to be widened so to have an extra lane. Only small parts of the scheme were built before New Labour pretty much abolished all pre-existing road plans.

EDIT: Parts of my post made no sense.
The government announced in 1990 upgrading the A1 to D3M by the end of the nineties. Instead, like everything else, only some of the upgrade was carried out and John Prescott announced in 1990 that Labour would spend the money on public transport instead. 7 years later, when Prescott took over at Transport, among his other jobs, most new roadbuilding was suspended.
Which is all well and good but did the Metro get new trains instead? No. Did we improve ECML services reopen the Leamside Line make a tram service in the area. No. Nowt
Glenn A
Member
Posts: 9776
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 19:31
Location: Cumbria

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Glenn A »

Mark Hewitt wrote:
Glenn A wrote:
McNessA720 wrote:
Given that soon, the D2M Washington-Barton section of A1(M) is going to be bordered on either side by D3 in some form, isn't it about time that upgrading the aforementioned A1(M) to D3M should be considered? They should start with the section north of J62.

Upgrading the full Scotch Corner-Washington section was on the cards at one point.

The plan from around 1990 to 1997/8 was to have a full D3M A1 between the M25 & Tyneside. This involved upgrading all non-motorway A1 between Baldock (near Stevenage) to Scotch Corner to be upgraded to D3M & all D2M on the A1(M) to be widened so to have an extra lane. Only small parts of the scheme were built before New Labour pretty much abolished all pre-existing road plans.

EDIT: Parts of my post made no sense.
The government announced in 1990 upgrading the A1 to D3M by the end of the nineties. Instead, like everything else, only some of the upgrade was carried out and John Prescott announced in 1990 that Labour would spend the money on public transport instead. 7 years later, when Prescott took over at Transport, among his other jobs, most new roadbuilding was suspended.
Which is all well and good but did the Metro get new trains instead? No. Did we improve ECML services reopen the Leamside Line make a tram service in the area. No. Nowt
Prescott's other achievement was to postpone a vital by pass near me on the A595, which finally got the go ahead in 2005 and part of it was cancelled. Not wishing to make this too political, but the 1997-2001 Labour government did very little for roads.
CallumParry
Member
Posts: 150
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 13:38

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by CallumParry »

Glenn A wrote:
Mark Hewitt wrote:
Glenn A wrote: The government announced in 1990 upgrading the A1 to D3M by the end of the nineties. Instead, like everything else, only some of the upgrade was carried out and John Prescott announced in 1990 that Labour would spend the money on public transport instead. 7 years later, when Prescott took over at Transport, among his other jobs, most new roadbuilding was suspended.
Which is all well and good but did the Metro get new trains instead? No. Did we improve ECML services reopen the Leamside Line make a tram service in the area. No. Nowt
Prescott's other achievement was to postpone a vital by pass near me on the A595, which finally got the go ahead in 2005 and part of it was cancelled. Not wishing to make this too political, but the 1997-2001 Labour government did very little for roads.
Without getting political the North East has been abandoned in terms of effective infrastructure too many "sticking plaster" schemes have taken place that only fix the short term problem for example the A1 around newcastle really could do with like Local / Express Lanes to handle local commuter traffic within the Newcastle & Gateshead area and Thru Lanes to handle vehicles just "cutting through" to head to Northumberland Coast or SE Scotland. The A1(M) between Barton and Washington / A194M is horribly out of date and needs capacity work on sections North of Durham ideally D3M and the sections between Barton and Durham needs a good re-surface and more tech ideally make it D2M Smart I WOULD NOT support ALR on this section as there are frequent blockages of the hard shoulder by stalled, broken down vehicles and vehicle fires. In regards to Tech there is still a chronic lack of VMS and CCTV along the A1(M) , A1, A19, A66 A168, A69 so you dont know of incident till it's too late and can't do nothing about it. The A19 Tees Flyover needs replacing and upgrading for capacity and lets not mention the deadly and horrific A66 Trans Pennine a route of Nation importance still having single carriageway sections and inadequate junctions thats like saying lets have a single carriageway section on the M4 between London and Bristol and have at grade junctions.
User avatar
wrinkly
Member
Posts: 8986
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:17
Location: Leeds

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by wrinkly »

A new round of consultation on Birtley to Coal House.

Press release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/seco ... -gateshead

Scheme page:

http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a ... oal-house/

Consultation page:

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... rovements/

The best plans, showing the number of lanes on each section, appear to be in "PEIR Appendix C":

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... ix%20C.pdf
User avatar
jackal
Member
Posts: 7544
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 23:33
Location: M6

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by jackal »

Thanks. This confirms that it will be four lanes between the junctions in this section, including the new rail bridge. It's also three lanes through the junctions, with two exceptions:

1. Southbound through J66 is four lane
2. Northbound through J65 (from the A1(M)) remains two lanes, necessitating a double lane gain to four lanes. It's a bit awkward but probably the best that can be done given the TOTSO at the end of the A1(M).

Overall it's pretty impressive.
User avatar
Mark Hewitt
Member
Posts: 31407
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:54
Location: Chester-le-Street

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Mark Hewitt »

jackal wrote:Thanks. This confirms that it will be four lanes between the junctions in this section, including the new rail bridge. It's also three lanes through the junctions, with two exceptions:

1. Southbound through J66 is four lane
2. Northbound through J65 (from the A1(M)) remains two lanes, necessitating a double lane gain to four lanes. It's a bit awkward but probably the best that can be done given the TOTSO at the end of the A1(M).

Overall it's pretty impressive.
That’s a bit of an issue because this is a particular bottleneck in the area. It could really have done with three lanes continuing from the A1(M)
User avatar
wrinkly
Member
Posts: 8986
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:17
Location: Leeds

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by wrinkly »

You can see that there were three lanes once.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.90129 ... 312!8i6656
Glenn A
Member
Posts: 9776
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 19:31
Location: Cumbria

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Glenn A »

A big achievement when it was completed in 1990, as it liberated the western suburbs of Newcastle from long distance traffic( the old A69 from Denton to Scotswood was constantly congested and being on a steep bank added to the congestion), but soon the shortcomings of the western by pass being D2 became obvious. As it was heavily congested, it became difficult and sometimes dangerous to join from the slip roads, and being an all purpose road rather than a motorway, until a ban was introduced in between 0600 and 1800, tractors could use the A1, leading to even worse congestion.
SarahJ
Member
Posts: 2176
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 02:22
Location: Brighton, South Coast

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by SarahJ »

wrinkly wrote:You can see that there were three lanes once.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.90129 ... 312!8i6656
It was changed so that traffic joining from the A1231 and Sunderland/Washington got their own lane. There is a quite steady stream and it was causing issues when they were trying to join. It was quite a sensible scheme.
Glenn A
Member
Posts: 9776
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 19:31
Location: Cumbria

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Glenn A »

There is a section of D3 that acts like a feeder lane for traffic wanting to use the A1 to access the A69 from the A695. As this is a relatively short section, it works.
User avatar
jackal
Member
Posts: 7544
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 23:33
Location: M6

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by jackal »

SarahJ wrote:
wrinkly wrote:You can see that there were three lanes once.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.90129 ... 312!8i6656
It was changed so that traffic joining from the A1231 and Sunderland/Washington got their own lane. There is a quite steady stream and it was causing issues when they were trying to join. It was quite a sensible scheme.
Source? It seems more likely it was to forego the offside exit to the A194(M) by making it a more acceptable lane drop. Furthermore, this is supported by the fact that the two lane section is being retained even when three lanes would be compatible with an A1231 lane gain (because the next section along will be four lanes).
User avatar
Mark Hewitt
Member
Posts: 31407
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:54
Location: Chester-le-Street

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Mark Hewitt »

A1 Birtley to Coalhose visualisation https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/no ... d-14322961

Looks good but I can't help thinking J65 being left as two lanes exiting the A1(M) is still going to cause tailbacks.
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35754
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Bryn666 »

The A1 used to widen to three lanes after the Y split, which will have caused problems for merging from the A1231. I can't possibly imagine why it would need a double lane gain here and surely with a tiny bit of clever paintwork from the services northwards you could have the following arrangement going northbound on the A1(M):

A1 | A1 | A1 & A194(M) | A194(M)

So Lane 3 becomes an optional lane to go either way. You will lose some hard shoulder doing this but the asphalt is all there waiting for it.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
User avatar
jackal
Member
Posts: 7544
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 23:33
Location: M6

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by jackal »

Presumably that is not done because Lane 3 would then have an offside exit.
User avatar
Johnathan404
Member
Posts: 11478
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 16:54

Re: A1 Western bypass widening

Post by Johnathan404 »

Surely it could be an offside exit, a nearside exit or an even split - it just depends how you mark it.

Bryn's suggestion sounds exactly like the M6/M6 Toll split, albeit in a smaller space.
I have websites about: motorway services | Fareham
Post Reply