A191

The A191 connects the western suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne with the coast at Whitley Bay via a somewhat unusual route.

Route

Scotswood Bridge-Whitley Bay

The road starts at a roundabout on the A6085 Scotswood Road, from where there are also north-facing slip roads leading to the A1. These slip roads at one time carried the A69 Gateshead western bypass leading to the nearby Scotswood Bridge, which was downgraded in the 1990s when the A1 was moved onto the western bypass following the construction of Blaydon Bridge, slightly upstream.

The A191 runs round in a loop to climb out of the valley and then heads northwards along Denton Road which marks the edge of the urban area. It crosses a few roundabouts, all with classified roads, meeting the B1311, A186 (also formerly A69) and A167 before reaching another roundabout, on a different branch of the A167. There is then a short multiplex north along the dual carriageway before the A191 regains its number by turning right at another roundabout.

Now heading east, the A191 has a short semi-rural section as it passes between Nuns Moor and a school playing field before entering the suburb of Kenton. It TOTSOs right at traffic lights (although there was a roundabout here until recently) then left at a roundabout to continue on into Gosforth. Here it turns right then left at adjacent sets of traffic lights in order to cross the B1318. It may seem unusual that the A-road has to give way to the B-road - but the other road was the A1 until the 1970s so does have sufficient distinction.

Gosforth

The A191 continues east through the urban area to cross the metro by South Gosforth station. It soon reaches the A189 which is crossed via two roundabouts either side of the Ouseburn; this time the A191 has priority. The road continues parallel to the metro and crosses the A188 at the next roundabout as the A191 skirts Longbenton. It then goes over the East Coast Main Line to reach open fields, although the urban sprawl is still clearly visible. The A186 comes in from the right at the next roundabout to start a multiplex, with the A191 number dominant.

Presently the road reaches Holystone, which has a new bypass, ending at a roundabout interchange on the A19. The A186 leaves here to the north of Shiremoor and the A191 passes to the south. It bypasses New York before running past the North Tyneside Hospital to reach a roundabout on the A192. There are a few yards of multiplex (the A191 is dominant once more) to the next roundabout and the A191 continues through the suburbs of Whitley Bay. It ends at a roundabout on the A193 on the southern edge of the town centre.

History

Originally the A191 started on the then-A188 in Holystone and ran along its current route into Whitley Bay. After World War II the A188 was rerouted and so the A191 was extended along its former route to Longbenton, where the roads now crossed, then took over the A1059 to reach the A1 (now B1318) in Gosforth.

In the 1970s the A191 was extended west of the then-A1 along the former B6340 to reach the A696 (now A167) and there is evidence that it was also extended further, giving the road its current length. However, the road on the far side of the A696 was renumbered as a rerouting of the A696 in the same decade, so if the A191 ever ran along Silver Lonnen it did not do so for long. However, when the A1 gained its current route in the 1990s the A696 was cut back to end on the bypass, extending the A191 along Silver Lonnen once again to give the road its current route.

Opening Dates

Year	Section	Notes
1999	West Allotment Bypass	The road from A19 Holystone Interchange to the Silverlink Business Park was officially opened on 3 September 1999 by Mary Mulgrove, Mayor of North Tyneside, and Joe Penney, Tyneside Challenge Chairman. Traffic could not use the road until 6 September 1999 due to a bridlepath closure objections expiry date. Cost £1.1 million.