A69 road
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| Route information | ||
Part of  | ||
| Length | 54 mi (87 km) | |
| Major junctions | ||
| East end | ||
| West end | Carlisle | |
| Location | ||
| Country | Primary destinations Hexham | |
| Road network | ||
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The A69 is a major northern trunk road in England, running east–west across the Pennines, through the counties of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Cumbria. Originally, the road started in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne then later near Birtley, but since the creation of the A1 Western Bypass around Newcastle upon Tyne, it now starts at Denton Burn, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The route from the A1 junction to Carlisle city centre is 54 miles (87 km).[1]
Settlements on the route
- Denton Burn
- West Denton
- Throckley
- (Corbridge)
- (Hexham)
- (Haydon Bridge)
- Bardon Mill
- Melkridge
- (Haltwhistle)
- (Brampton)
- Warwick Bridge
- Warwick-on-Eden
- Botcherby
- Carlisle
Places with parentheses are indicative of historically being on the A69, but have now been bypassed
Description of the route
The road runs westwards from the A1 at
After crossing the border into Cumbria, the A69 by-passes the town of Brampton, before coming to a roundabout junction with the A689 road. The A69 turns left here and travels through the village of Warwick Bridge, which is planned to be by-passed in the future. Following a short piece of dual carriageway, the A69 comes to Junction 43 of the M6 motorway, which skirts the eastern edge of Carlisle.
The A69 into Carlisle has the name Warwick Road, and is known to be one of the most congested roads in the county. At Saint Aidan's church, the A69 turns right up Victoria Place, and meets the A7 road at a busy traffic-light controlled crossroads, where it terminates.
The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E18. It is maintained by RoadLink.
Historical sections of road numbered A69
At its eastern end, the A69 historically ran from its current terminus with the A1 at Denton Burn eastward along Westgate Road (now the western end of the A186) in Newcastle upon Tyne, terminating at the junction between Westgate Road and Neville Street in central Newcastle near Newcastle Central station.
The construction of the
Standard of route
The A69 is a major route linking the north-east and north-west of England, and as such has primary status throughout. For about 20 miles (30 km) between its start at Newcastle and the Hexham by-pass the A69 is dual carriageway standard, and is largely grade separated. The rest of the route, apart from a short dual carriageway section near the M6 Junction 43 is single carriageway, with occasional climbing lanes.
Haydon Bridge bypass
Haydon Bridge was the last village on the A69 in Northumberland to gain a bypass. This was officially opened on Wednesday 25 March 2009 and passes to the south of the village with a new bridge over the River South Tyne to the west of the village.[2]
Safety
A report on the A69 in 2011 noted that in the previous year 82 accidents were recorded with 130 injuries, 10 serious injuries and four deaths.[3] Campaigning has been ongoing to get the section from Hexham to Carlisle dualled to allow vehicles to overtake safely.
References
- ^ "A69 – Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki". www.sabre-roads.org.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ Coulter, David. "End of a long road for campaigners". Hexham Courant (27 March 2009): 9.
- ^ "News & Star | Tynedale: MP takes A69 dualling plea to the Chancellor". www.newsandstar.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2015.[permanent dead link]
A roads in Zone 6 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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