A187
A187 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Heaton (NZ273648) | |||||||||
To: | North Shields (NZ355686) | |||||||||
Distance: | 6.6 miles (10.6 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A193, A186, A193, A19, A193, A1149, A193 | |||||||||
Former Number(s): | A186 | |||||||||
Old route now: | A189, A193 | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The A187 runs parallel to the A193 in North Tyneside from Byker to North Shields.
Route
The road starts at a roundabout on the southern edge of Heaton, where it meets the A193 for the first (but not last) time. It heads east along Fossway along the line of Hadrian's Wall, none of which is now still visible. Despite the fact that this is a Class I road - and even partly industrial - the road is liberally scattered with traffic calming. The road passes to the north of Walker and reaches a roundabout on the A186 to begin a multiplex with the A187 number dominant.
The A187 crosses the site of the Roman fort of Segedunum marking the end of the wall in what is now Wallsend. The road passes the space-age museum before losing the A186 at traffic lights. After passing through an industrial area a roundabout is reached and a spur of the A193. The A187 continues past Hadrian Road metro station to cross the Willington Gut and skirt the suburb of Willington Quay. The road actually looks quite rural here.
Shortly afterwards the road goes over the A19 Tyne Tunnel and bends to the left to reach a roundabout. When there was only one tunnel this roundabout provided access to it. Now, however, this is only used by traffic leaving the (original) tunnel and traffic has to detour. Now dual carriageway, the A187 splits at the next roundabout. The road ahead leads to the A193 which provides access to the A19 in both directions. The mainline of the A187 turns right to bypass Percy Main and reach another roundabout, where the dual carriageway bears off to the right to serve North Shields ferry terminal (now largely freight only).
The A187 continues ahead as S2. On the near side of North Shields town centre it reaches a roundabout from where the A1149 links it to the A193, a job that has already been done perfectly well twice before using a spur. The A187 then continues ahead before making an unsigned TOTSO left onto Howard Street. It zigzags before ending at traffic lights back on the A193.
History
As short as it is today, originally the A187 was even shorter. It started on the A695 (now A193) in Rosehill before running to Willington Quay and its current route east to North Shields, where it ended on the A192 Borough Road; this provided access to the vehicle ferry to South Shields.
It appears that when the A1 was rerouted onto the western bypass in the 1990s the A187 was extended to the west, taking over the A193 into Newcastle city centre, then what was the A696 along Barrack Road to reach the A167 on Nuns Moor. This extension did not last long. The A189, which met the A187 on Town Moor, took over Barrack Road as part of its extension over the New Redheugh Bridge in the 2000s; the A193 also regained New Bridge Street around this time, truncating the A187 to as if the extension had never happened.
Opening Dates
Year | Section | Notes |
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1993 | East Howdon Bypass | The dual carriageway from a roundabout north of East Howdon to one near the Tyne Tunnel northern entrance was opened on 22 January 1993 by resident Anne Johnson. Contractor was Birse, cost £2.26 million. |