A690 road

Last updated

UK road A690.svg

A690
Major junctions
East end Sunderland
54°54′10″N1°23′21″W / 54.9028°N 1.3893°W / 54.9028; -1.3893 (A690 road (northeastern end))
 UK-Motorway-A1 (M).svg A1(M)
UK road A1052.svg A1052
UK road A167.svg A167
UK road A181.svg A181
UK road A182.svg A182
UK road A183.svg A183
UK road A1231.svg A1231
UK road A19.svg A19
UK road A689.svg A689
UK road A691.svg A691
West end Crook
54°42′53″N1°44′46″W / 54.7147°N 1.7461°W / 54.7147; -1.7461 (A690 road (southwestern end))
Location
Primary
destinations
Durham
Road network

The A690 is a road in County Durham running from Sunderland in the east through Durham to Crook.

Contents

Sunderland section

The Sunderland section of the A690 Sunderland boundary on the A690 - geograph.org.uk - 352260.jpg
The Sunderland section of the A690

Throughout the Sunderland section it is known as either Durham Road or New Durham Road, and is one of the major routes in and out of the city. A single carriageway section runs from the city centre to a large roundabout at the Barnes. The road then climbs a steep hill toward High Barnes, alongside the Bede site of the Sunderland College before becoming dual carriageway. Beyond a set of traffic lights at the Prospect Hotel, the road remains dual carriageway, but the inside lane is a 'no car lane'. (In early 2009 the Prospect Hotel was demolished to make way for a new Lidl store.) The road then climbs another hill, becoming single carriageway, with the Farringdon estate to the east and the Thorney Close estate to the west. A down hill stretch leads into the East Herrington and then on toward the A19 fly-over. Just after the A19 intersection, the road once again becomes a dual carriageway with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). Within the first mile after the A19, the road comes to a notoriously bad intersection - which is frequented by a speed camera van on the Eastbound carriageway just outside the Evans Halshaw. The road then runs through Houghton-le-Spring, via a locally famous transport feature named Houghton Cut. This huge cut through the hillside was reputedly built with the forced labour of Napoleonic prisoners of war. The road then runs out of the City of Sunderland boundary and on toward the A1. [1]

Houghton Cut

Houghton Cut A690 at Houghton-le-Spring - geograph.org.uk - 314083.jpg
Houghton Cut

The Houghton Cut "carries the A690 over the steep and prominent Magnesian Limestone escarpment at Houghton". In 1815, French prisoners of war blasted this cut deeper than it already was, to improve the road to Sunderland's port. It was blasted again for the same reason in the 1930s, and "the Germans are said to have helped by bombing it". From 1968 to 1970 it was widened again. [2]

Durham section

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References

  1. Lanagan, P. (2014). "Houghton-le-Spring street guides: Durham Road" (PDF). houghtonlespring.org.uk. Houghton Heritage Society. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  2. Simpson, David (2017). "Houghton-le-Spring: Houghton Cut and Houghton Hall". englandsnortheast.co.uk. England's North East. Retrieved 1 April 2021.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to A690 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons

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Coordinates: 54°47′27″N1°32′30″W / 54.7908°N 1.5416°W / 54.7908; -1.5416 (A690 road)