"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
...

Well, maybe at some time (possibly during the building of the Western
Bypass and the re-designation the part of the A1 through Gateshead the
A167) someone decided to call the Tyne Tunnel itself the A1, However, I
doubt if any of the roads connecting to the TT were called the A1. As I've
said, heading south on the A1 from the north side of Newcastle, I'm pretty
sure that the eastwards turn-off for the Tyne Tunnel and the Bergen Ferry
terminal said A19. Heading north, just after the Washington services, the
eastwards turn-off was the A194 or A194M.

No, there was definitely a period of around 10-12 years following the
opening of the northern section of what is now the A19 dual carriageway
(between Seaton Burn and the tunnel) when the A1 was signed that way
throughout, from Washington to Seaton Burn, I have an OS map in front of me
now (from 1989) showing it so.

With cost apparently being immaterial at the time, many of the major roads
in the Newcastle area were concurrently renumbered into the 6 zone, during
which period the Central Motorway East (CME) was the A6127(M). Once the A1
was rerouted via the western bypass, all the major roads in the area were
renumbered back into the 1 zone again, hence the CME now being the A167(M).

Paul