A6125
A6125 | ||||
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From: | Gateshead (NZ256617) | |||
To: | Seaton Burn (NZ231744) | |||
Via: | Newcastle upon Tyne | |||
Distance: | 10.2 miles (16.4 km) | |||
Met (1986): | A6127, A6115, A695, A6127(M), A6127, A189, A191, A1 | |||
Former Number(s): | A1 | |||
Now part of: | B1307, B1318, A1 | |||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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The A6125 number was given to the former A1 through Tyneside.
Originally the A1 ran along West Street in Gateshead then across the High Level Bridge to reach Newcastle upon Tyne. After crossing the A695 Mosley Street by the cathedral it made a loop round the western side of the city centre. It ran along Bigg Market and then into Newgate Street before continuing north onto Barras Bridge.
When the Tyne Bridge was built in 1928 the A1 was rerouted that way and the A6125 took over its bypassed route. When originally created the A6125 started on the A1 to the south of Gateshead town centre and ran along West Street (the A1 had been moved onto the High Street) and continued north across the Tyne and through Newcastle to end back on the A1 on Barras Bridge; that road ran along Northumberland Street to rejoin its 1922 route.
Road improvements in Gateshead later diverted the A6125 onto a western bypass of the town centre, with the road diverted along Prince Consort Road to meet the A1 about half a mile further south. At the other end, however, the change was somewhat greater.
When the A1 was diverted east to use the Tyne Tunnel in the early 1980s, the old Great North Road from Newcastle upon Tyne to Seaton Burn was renumbered as an extension of the A6125. From Barras Bridge the road therefore now continued north across the Town Moor into Gosforth, where the road became dual-carriageway. The road then bore left, away from the original Great North Road, onto the Wide Open bypass. It ended at the far end of the bypass where the A1 (present A19) came in from the east.
The A6125 number became defunct in the early 1990s when the Newcastle Western Bypass was opened and the A1 diverted onto that. Almost all of the Wide Open bypass regained the A1 number whilst the road from there south to the Town Moor became the B1318. The road through the city centre and into Gateshead became an extension of the A189; however, that road was quickly rerouted - the B1318 was extended to the city centre and then the B1307 took the road along Newgate Street and over the river into Gateshead. Both Prince Consort Road and West Street are now unclassified.
Although the High Level Bridge still appears as the B1307 on maps it has been considerably downgraded since A1 days. It was open to all traffic until the 2000s, after which the bridge was refurbished and closed to the majority of traffic. It is now one-way southbound and only open to buses and taxis.
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