A695

The A695 is often seen as a less congested route to Gateshead Metro Centre from Hexham and Corbridge, indeed Gateshead is signed on the A695, than the A69 and A1 and is an important road in the Tyne Valley. Improvements over the years have seen a D2 bypass of Blaydon town centre and S2 by passes of Ryton, Crawcrook and Prudhoe.

Route

Newcastle - Hexham

The road starts in Newcastle upon Tyne city centre, in the labyrinth surrounding Central Station, with some maps claiming that the westbound Neville Street is the A186 whilst the eastbound Clayton Street West is the A695. Certainly the road runs down Marlborough to turn right under the Redheugh Bridge before bearing right again to a roundabout on the Scotswood Road, from where a spur (which takes virtually all the traffic) heads east to meet the A189 relief road.

Scotswood Road

The A695 heads west along the D2 Scotswood Road, which runs through the usual out-of-town retail. Presently an unusual GSJ is met. In the 12 o' direction is the A191 which provides access to the northbound A1, whilst the A695 bears left to cross the River Tyne at the Scotswood Bridge. On the far side, the A694 (which also leads to the A1) is met at a more standard GSJ. The A695 continues westwards to go under the A1 and run along the grade-separated Blaydon Highway before narrowing at a roundabout.

To the right is the B6317 which goes through Ryton but the A695 bypasses the town to the south. There are a couple of roundabouts with unclassified roads but the junction with the B6315 is a staggered crossroads. The Ryton bypass ends yards before the start of the Prudhoe bypass which runs to the north of town. This ends just before Mickley, which forms the first genuinely built-up area on the road. In the centre of the village is the turn for Cherryburn, birthplace of engraver Thomas Bewick and now owned by the National Trust.

TOTSO near Corbridge

Another rural section takes us to a sharp right-hand bend and not-so-sharp one to the left on the edge of Stocksfield. The road zigzags over the Tyne Valley Line then runs very close to the River Tyne for a short distance (it's not particularly visible as this area is wooded) and then reaches a roundabout on the A68. The railway line is crossed again and the road enters Riding Mill. On the next bend there's a dead-end residential road on the left which looks quite unimportant, except that is the original line of the A68 and so the A695 ended here. Now that runs elsewhere the A695 runs through the village centre and then about a mile further on has to TOTSO left, with the B6529 running ahead into Corbridge.

Not long afterwards there's a T-junction and the road TOTSOs left again (right is Corbridge) to cross the Devil's Water (a stream, which here looks quite innocuous). Continuing west, the road runs parallel to the railway line into Hexham. After passing the hospital a double mini-roundabout is reached. Three roads reach the second roundabout and all three end there; the other two are the B6305 through the town centre and the A6079 which takes through traffic north to meet the A69.

History

Originally the A695 ran from the A193 in Tynemouth to the A68 in Riding Mill, but underwent some changes after 1972. The section from Tynemouth to the A1 in Newcastle was renamed as an extension of the A193 in 1972, effectively halving the road's length (further renumberings mean that Neville Street is now the A186). However, when the A69 Hexham - Corbridge by pass was opened in 1977, the old A69 became the A695 (which required a multiplex along the A68 from Riding Mill to south of Corbridge. When the A68 eastern by pass of Corbridge opened in 1982, the old A68 became the A695, removing the multiplex.

The double TOTSO near Corbridge dates back to the pre-1972 layout, when the A68 and A69 crossed in the town centre; the short road connecting the two was the A6080.

Original Author(s): Gelen A

Opening Dates

Year	Section	Notes
1936	Crawcrook Diversion	A 0.45 mile diversion at the west end of the village. Width was 50 feet with a 30 foot carriageway, 6 foot footpaths and verges. Former road renamed Old Main Street. The Ministry grant was approved in July 1935. There is an A.A. report that it was under construction in June 1936. It may have opened in 1937. Expected cost £27,000. Later renumbered B6317.
1967	Scotswood Bridge	The new bridge over the River Tyne (110 feet upstream from the old one) was opened to traffic on 20 March 1967 by Peter Renwick, Newcastle City Council Alderman. It had opened to pedestrians on 5 March 1967. Work continued on the dual carriageway approach roads and two interchanges. Contractor was Mitchell Construction Company Ltd. of Peterborough, cost £2.1 million.
1977	Blaydon Bypass	Bladon Highway. 0.9 mile dualling from Blaydon Roundabout to Scotswood Bridge. Officially opened on 1 July 1977 by John Horam, Junior Transport Minister. Contractor was Balfour Beatty (Construction) Ltd., contract price £3 million, total cost £4.5 million. It included a viaduct over the railway and two roads that was almost a quarter mile long. Where the road was near to the River Tyne, any holes excavated would fill with water when the tide came in.
1990	Ryton and Crawcrook Bypass	The 1st phase around Crawcrook opened in January 1990. The 2nd phase around Ryton was opened on 28 September 1990. Designed and constructed by Gateshead Borough Council. There was a 3rd phase for a further 0.75 mile which started in March 1992. Carriageway was 7.3m. Total cost was £8 million. There was also £359,000 of compensation to 125 householders, which followed a test case that awarded a claim re a house that had not been built when the road was first planned.
1993	Prudhoe Bypass	The 3 mile single carriageway road was opened on 12 March 1993 by County Councillor Sid Knight and world champion Geordie athlete Steve Cram. It was also known as Prudhoe Industrial Link Road. A feature was Stanley Burn Bridge which spanned a wildlife area and incorporated special sound barriers to minimise noise and shield it off. Cost £10.8 million.