A6127
| A6127 | ||||||||||
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| From: | Chester-le-Street (NZ272501) | |||||||||
| To: | Blakelaw, Newcastle upon Tyne (NZ216667) | |||||||||
| Via: | Birtley & Gateshead | |||||||||
| Distance: | 12.6 miles (20.3 km) | |||||||||
| Met (1986): | A167, A693, A69, A6125, A6115, A692, A695, A186, A6127(M), A6125, A189, A6082, A696 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A1, A696 | |||||||||
| Now part of: | A167 | |||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The A6127 was what replaced the A1 from the centre of Chester-le-Street through Birtley and Low Fell and eventually over the Tyne Bridge to Newcastle's Central Motorway, which was then called the A6127(M).
For a description of the modern day incarnation of this route see the A167 article.
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At its fullest extent, the A6127 started on the A167 to the south of Chester-le-Street and headed north along Durham Road into the town centre. It ran along Front Street and left town along Newcastle Road. After crossing the A693 northern bypass it continued north through Birtley before crossing the A69 Gateshead bypass. The road continued north through Low Fell into Gateshead itself. It passed to the east of the town centre along the Gateshead Highway before crossing the Tyne Bridge into Newcastle upon Tyne.
The road passed to the east of the city centre along the A6127(M) Central Motorway East, crossing the A6125 Great North Road at the far end. The road then passed to the south of the Town Moor before bearing right into Ponteland Road and ending on the A696 Springfield Road. That road then continued ahead along Ponteland Road.
History
The A6127 first came into existence around 1930 following the construction of the A1 Chester-le-Street bypass. The road vacated, through the town centre, became the A6127, which was therefore a short road linking the A1 to itself.
The construction of the A1(M) through Durham saw the old A1 renumbered A167 south of Chester-le-Street. As this road took on the 1920s bypass it was the A6127 that took over the old A1 to the north of town. For some years its northern end was at the northern end of the Birtley bypass, by where the Angel of the North is now. However, when the A1 was diverted away from Newcastle upon Tyne through the Tyne Tunnel in 1977 the A6127 took on its route north through Gateshead and into Newcastle. North of here, however, the old A1 became the A6125 and so the A6127 was diverted west along what was the A696.
When the A1 moved again, after the opening of the Newcastle western bypass in the 1990s, the A6127 number was discontinued and the road was made an extension of the A167; however that road remained on the 1920s Chester-le-Street bypass and so the old A6127 through the town centre was declassified; this has allowed Front Street to be closed to through traffic.
Several maps incorrectly show the A6127 as still existing as the road through Birtley; however these are mapping errors.
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