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 A690 Houghton Cut | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 22.2 mi (35.7 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| East end | Sunderland | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| West end | Crook | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Constituent country | England | |||
| Primary destinations | Sunderland,Durham | |||
| Road network | ||||
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TheA690 is a road inNorth East England, running fromSunderland in the east throughDurham toCrook.
Throughout the Sunderland section it is known as eitherDurham Road orNew Durham Road, and is one of the major routes in and out of the city. Asingle carriageway section runs from the city centre to a largeroundabout at the Barnes. The road then climbs a steep hill toward High Barnes, alongside the Bede site of theSunderland College before becomingdual carriageway. Beyond a set oftraffic lights at theProspect Hotel, the road remains dual carriageway, but the inside lane is a 'no car lane'. (In early 2009 theProspect Hotel was demolished to make way for a new Lidl store.) The road then climbs another hill, becoming single carriageway, with theFarringdon estate to the east and theThorney Close estate to the west. A down hill stretch leads into theEast Herrington and then on toward theA19 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 theEvans Halshaw. The road then runs throughHoughton-le-Spring, via a locally famous transport feature namedHoughton 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 theCity of Sunderland boundary and on toward theA1.[1]
The Houghton Cut "carries the A690 over the steep and prominentMagnesian Limestoneescarpment atHoughton". 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]
Media related toA690 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons
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A roads in Zone 6 of theGreat Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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