A19 road

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A19
M62
South end	Doncaster 53°31′38″N 1°08′01″W / 53.5272°N 1.1337°W / 53.5272; -1.1337 (A19 road (southern end))
Location
Country	Primary destinations	York Thirsk Teesside Hartlepool Sunderland Tyne Tunnel
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A20

The A19 is a major road in England running approximately parallel to and east of the A1 road. Although the two roads meet at the northern end of the A19, the two roads originally met at the southern end of the A19 in Doncaster, but the old route of the A1 was changed to the A638. From Sunderland northwards, the route was formerly the A108. In the past the route was known as the East of Snaith-York-Thirsk-Stockton-on-Tees-Sunderland Trunk Road. Most traffic joins the A19, heading for Teesside, from the A168 at Dishforth Interchange.

Route

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Doncaster–Selby

The southern end of the A19 starts at the St Mary's Roundabout with the

From the M62, the village of

The £5 million 5-mile (8.0 km) Riccall and Barlby bypass opened in October 1987. This improved junctions with the A63 (Howden) and A163 (Holme-on-Spalding-Moor). The A63 and A19 meet at a roundabout near a large pickle factory. It heads towards Riccall where the road is much straighter after the bypass; it is following what was the East Coast Main Line before the Selby Diversion was built. Where the road leaves the old railway, the Trans Pennine Trail follows along the old track. At Escrick, it enters the Vale of York, and passes the BP York Road Garage, the Parsonage Hotel and St Helen's Church. Next is Deighton, passing the White Swan Inn, then it heads towards Crockey Hill. It meets the A64 near the headquarters of Persimmon plc.

The

There is a left turn for Tollerton and goes through Tollerton Forest. Heading northward the section between York and Thirsk was not helped much by the opening of the £5 million 3-mile (4.8 km) Easingwold Bypass in November 1994, as the road remained single carriageway, starting at a roundabout. There is a left turn for Raskelf. Here it passes the Black Bull pub. There is the small dwelling of Birdforth with a roadside cafe and crossroads for Hutton Sessay and Carlton Husthwaite. It crosses the Thirkleby Beck near Great Thirkleby. It meets the A168 from the south, and the old route through Thirsk is now the A170 then the A61. The bypass meets the A61 and A168 (for Northallerton) at a junction near South Kilvington.

Thirsk–Billingham

North of Thirsk, the A19 takes over from the A168 as the link from the A1 to

At the Parkway the lighting columns appear then the road widens to three lanes, then at Acklam at the A1130 interchange it becomes four before two peel off for the A66 for Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough. The Tees Bridge opened in 1975. Either side of the River Tees crossing, the Tees Viaduct, is a retail park – Teesside Park with a Morrisons to the south of the river and Portrack with an Asda on the Stockton side, with a mass of industry in the vicinity of the A66/A19 interchange. This interchange is one of the few 4-way free-flow interchanges in Britain not found on the motorway network, and is similar to a four-level stack interchange, but with a single loop ramp covering the A19 south to A66 west movement. This road was improved in 1998 by widening from 2 to 3 & 4 lanes each way the 4-mile (6.4 km) section between the Parkway and Norton. Even in rush hour the road still flows quite well. The grade-separated 4-mile (6.4 km) £19 million Billingham Diversion was officially opened in February 1983, which diverted the traffic through a sub-standard section with roundabouts (Wolviston By-pass) built in the late 1960s.

Billingham–Seaton Burn

Past Teesside the A19 enters rural landscape, meeting the former route through Billingham, where it enters the borough of Hartlepool. There is a right turn for

The 3.5-mile Easington and Cold Hesledon Diversion opened in the early 1970s, initially designated as the A19(M). There is an access road to the south from

At this point, the A19 makes a large deviation from its former route, by bypassing Sunderland from the west. Its former route went near the coast. The 8.75-mile Sunderland Bypass opened as the

At Testo's Roundabout with the A184 (for Gateshead and The Boldons), the A19 originally ended as the A1 took over to run through the Tyne Tunnel, before that classification became assigned to the Newcastle Western Bypass from the Angel of the North to Kingston Park. To the east the A19 now approaches the Tyne Tunnel, where a second tunnel opened in 2011 to relieve traffic congestion. There is a limited access junction (from the north) for Hedworth, and the road is crossed by the Green Line of the Tyne and Wear Metro. It meets the A194 (for South Shields) at an interchange. At the Jarrow Interchange, there is a roundabout for the A185 (for Hebburn) and the B1297 at the start of the single-carriageway £13 million Tyne Tunnel, opened in October 1967 as the A108. The former route north of Sunderland is now the A1018.

The A19 continues in a north-westerly direction through North Tyneside past Killingworth and Cramlington, rejoining the current A1, just north of Newcastle at Seaton Burn.

Between Testo's Roundabout and Seaton Burn, the A19 was designated as part of the A1 until the opening of the Newcastle Western Bypass.

Incidents

In November 1986 a tanker loaded with toluene overturned and caught fire near Brookfield. The driver and the occupants of three cars were injured. The fire burned for eight hours and led to residents being warned by Cleveland Police of potentially toxic fumes. The fire service later criticised the police response as a "massive overreaction".^[4]

In 1988 a stretch of the road in Teeside was notoriously accident prone. In a now famous interview, then local councillor Mr Davidson appeared on TV to declare the road safe. During the interview, a crash took place directly behind the councillor.^[5]

In June 2008 a fuel tanker began leaking oil from its engine covering a mile-long stretch, including a bend, before stopping near Hartlepool. A small fire broke out and cars began sliding, although none crashed. The fire service shut down the road to clean it.^[6]

In popular culture

The road also inspired the song "A19" by the North East band Maxïmo Park.

References

External links

• Selby bypass opens June 2004.
• Problems with the Selby bypass.
• New Tyne crossing on CBRD.
• Village bypass delay anger
• Villagers in fresh push for bypass
• Multiple murderer Mark Hobson is caught at a petrol station on A19 at Shipton by Beningbrough.
• SABRE article on the A19
• SABRE article on the A108
• Highway Agency DFBO Dishforth to Tyne Tunnel