A192
A192 | |||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||||||||
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From: | North Shields (NZ353686) | ||||||||||||
To: | Fair Moor, Morpeth (NZ181875) | ||||||||||||
Distance: | 18.1 miles (29.1 km) | ||||||||||||
Meets: | A193, A1058, A191, A1148, A186, B1325, A190, B1326, A1061, A189, B1505, A1171, A1068, B1331, A196, B1337, A197 | ||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | A194, A195, A1 | ||||||||||||
Old route now: | B143, A187 | ||||||||||||
Primary Destinations | |||||||||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||
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Route
The A192 is a road of many parts in southeast Northumberland.
North Shields - Cramlington
The road starts at traffic lights on the A193 in the centre of North Shields. It heads north along Preston Road and soon reaches Preston. At one time the A192 detoured to the left along Front Street but this has now been bypassed. The A1058 is crossed at a roundabout then the A192 becomes briefly D2, ending a couple of roundabouts later on the A191.
There is a short multiplex along the A191 to the next roundabout, a section of road that almost looks rural. Then the A192 skirts the western side of Monkseaton. It goes over the metro next to the art deco West Monkseaton station. Shortly afterwards the A1148 is met at a roundabout, after which the A192 is D2 again as far as the Earsdon roundabout on the A186.
Earsdon marks the edge of the North Tyneside urban area and the road now continues north across open country. After a straight section it descends to cross the Seaton Burn and then bends to climb up the far side into Holywell. This merges seamlessly into Seaton Delaval, where the A190 is crossed at a roundabout. After going over a freight-only railway line we reenter open country again at a roundabout where the B1326 heads off to the left towards the centre of the new town of Cramlington. After a straight, tree-lined avenue we continue across the fields to cross the A1061 before bending to the left to a roundabout GSJ on the A189.
Cramlington - Fair Moor
From this roundabout the A192 heads more-or-less due west along the northern edge of Cramlington new town. The road is dual-carriageway and as with many, if not all, new towns the road seems to be incomplete. At the next roundabout, with the A1171, the carriageways split either side of embankments to allow grade separation, although the bridges were not actually built. At the next roundabout on the far corner of Cramlington there is no obvious future-proofing on the A192 but there is on the A1068 which comes in from the left.
On meeting the A1068 the A192 turns northwards once again and returns to single carriageway. It descends to cross the River Blyth then TOTSOs whilst climbing back up. The road ahead is the A1068 to Bedlington. The A192 continues across the fields, skirting the edge of Hepscott, before meeting the A196 at a roundabout on the southern edge of Morpeth.
The A192 continues into the town centre. It goes under the East Coast Main Line near the station just before reaching a roundabout on the B1337. The road then descends Castle Bank. The building to the right looking like the castle is actually the former County Gaol, now a hotel; the actual castle is to the left and invisible from the road.
The River Wansbeck is then crossed, after which the A192 turns left at a mini-roundabout (the B1337 heads right) to pass the bagpipe museum and run along the busy main street, then bears right at the next mini-roundabout to head north out of town. After reaching open country the road climbs Pottery Bank to reach a roundabout on the A197 Morpeth Northern Bypass. The A192 ends here, a short distance to the east of the A1 and south of the A697.
History
Route changes
The A192 is considerably extended from its original route.
Back in 1922 the A192 headed north from North Shields along its current route (which has only been slightly upgraded) to end on the then-A194 at Shankhouse, at a point just to the north of the current A192/A189 junction.
The A194 was abolished after World War II and so the A192 was extended west along the section that now bypasses Cramlington, then north along the former A195 (which was abolished at the same time) into Morpeth, where it ended on the A1 to the south of the town centre. When the A1 bypass was built the A192 was extended north along the pre-bypass route through the town centre to end on the bypass at Fair Moor however this changed in 2017 when the A197 Morpeth Northern Bypass was opened. The old GSJ with the A1 was closed and a new one was built slightly to the south of it. The A192 now ends on the A197 just to the east of this new junction.
At the North Shields end the terminus of the A192 has also moved. It originally started on the New Quay, from where a vehicle ferry ran to South Shields and the A19. It ran north along Borough Road, meeting the end of the A187 en route, before passing the station to run along Nile Street and reach the A695 (now A193), to regain its current route after a short multiplex.
The road through the centre of North Shields was later downgraded, becoming the B143, and the A192 diverted to the east. When the Shields Ferry was closed to vehicles (it still runs on the same route as a foot ferry) Borough Road was declassified and the A187 took over that part of the A192 south of the A695.
Bypasses
Preston village Bypass - North Road to Front Street. The 0.2 mile road was reported by the Shields Daily News of 18 November 1957 that it was to open next month. It had opened by 17 December 1957. Cost was more than £31,000.