Fun fact! There are in fact no unexciting episodes of Secrets of the Motorway. There was a plan for one, coincidentally about the A617M. The script was written, shooting locations selected, drone batteries charged - but then a change in the council meant the funding disappeared, and the new council found the original script had been buggered up royally. So they cancelled that video, and used the funds for a newly rewritten script which was much better planned and yet somehow makes it effortlessly seem that stuff just happens, which is crazy when you think about it. Overall it's pretty wicked sweet awesome. Thanks again Jon, and have a great week!
A167M is pure infrastructure porn. I used to live up this way and going straight from bridge into tunnel into double stack motorway (all thanks to Newcastle's gorgeous topography) always gave like cool dystopian Metropolis vibes. Also, the fact that a council decided to funnel money into the metro instead of building roads back in the '60s/'70s blows my mind. And thank fk they did!
I have no idea how I happened upon your channel, but I love it. Have I ever been to these places? No Do I even live in the country? No Your humour, alone, is enough to keep me watching. Keep up the great work sir 👏🏼
I live in Newcastle. I know the A167(M)very well as it gets in the way of my bike rides across the city from west to east. Jon didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but he still made me laugh. Every word he said is true. PS The traffic in Newcastle will be terrible for the next few years as the Tyne Bridge is partly closed for repairs ... best come by train or plane and use the Metro (or walk).
You've never lived until you've tried that on a motorcycle Basically you just pray to whatever your diety of choice is, grab a handfull of throttle and go for it You're literally in the hands of the Gods if you try it during rush hour It's even more fun at dawn, dusk or during the winter months when the low winter sun blinds you Great fun for those of a suicidal nature
I lived in Newcastle for a few years and had to use the A167M all the time and I always thought who created this wackiness? Mental and shrooms did occur to me too. There's some more mental roads over in central Gateshead too. Also I miss the Metro it's mint.
I love ALL episodes for Auto Shenanigans but for whatever reason, I REALLY loved this one. Perfectly scripted and edited, entertainly and interesting and made me laugh out loud. Twice. Also contains *spoiler* the actual Byker Grove and the theme tune complete with the 'famous' three laughs at the end. Not sure you can top this one Jon!! 🤘
One thing the esteemed road planners on Tyneside did get right - as a van driver, I am seriously impressed by the replacement of bus lanes with "no car" lanes. Keeps road usage efficient
I drove into Newcastle a few weeks back for the first time in about 20 years. Navigating this motorway felt like a speeded up version of Mario Kart while on crack.
Thank you, you don’t know how long I’ve waited for someone to explain how that mess of an urban roadway came to be. I drive on it, at least a couple of times a week, and it can be baffling .
Awesome video! My fave part of this crazy road is if you are coming from the B1318 from Haymarket station and heading to the coast road A1058, you have to merge onto the A167m from the right in the underground bit, then cross 3 lanes of 50mph traffic in about 150m to get to the coast road slip road! So dangerous and such a rush every time, I love it and would go out of my way to use that route when I lived in Newcastle 😂
Another motorway based oddity in the area is that Haymarket metro station was originally constructed in a way that it could have been used as a pillar of a planned but never built urban motorway. It was originally a low circular structure but was rebuilt in 2008. Merry Xmas Jon
I didn’t realise that about the Haymarket although I knew about the old bus station in Eldon Square possibly being on the line of one of them I’m glad the plans were never completed as it would have destroyed much of the city centre but at the same time it’s mental that all this was planned to start with
As someone who came to Uni up here, of the four junctions, three are dangerous in at least one direction between merging, crossing and poor junction design. Its such a short road to have so many terror causing sections
Another weird thing about the A167(M) is that you can cycle from the Swan House roundabout and take the next left, staying to the left all the time. That lane is not part of the motorway. Has to be the closest you can get to a motorway without being on it. Which makes it even more weird. It's also quite a challenging gradient coming off, part of the Great North Run route one year (when South Tyneside didn't want runners coming through due to their covid regulations).
@@rogink I did it in the 90s it wasn't any better. I was cycling from Brighton to Shaftesbury (as you do) and several drivers beeped me on that section of road because they thought I was on the motorway!
A round of applause for that shot at 1:04, brilliant. Was kinda hoping for the Get Carter theme as the outro but I get that Byker Grove would be a more popular choice. Still shudder at that paintball incident..
Fantastic! I lived with in Windsor Terrace Newcastle Uni accomodation in 2017 and spenty days travelling home terrified of the sliproad that joined of the road on the righthand side of the motorway or from manors carpark. Great to see Newcastle finally mentioned on the channel!
This brings back memories of being a child in the back seat of my parents Austin 1800 in the ‘70s on trips from home in mid Hampshire to cousins in Newcastle. To you, the A167(M) might mean questionable local government decision making and dangerous junctions (alright, I’ll give you that since my aunt had a car written off at one), but to me it will always mean the imminent end to travel sickness, I-spy and sibling squabbling, and the resultant realisation that there may be a god after all!
Driving home for Christmas in Newcastle with my family this evening, my wife and I are scheduling our entire trip from the South of the UK so she doesn't have to drive on the central motorway scissor junction at Jesmond Road.
Vaguely remember that junction being closed, around the same those student flats were built. Always assumed they were a factor too. The A167m is absolutely insane. Trying to get from Barras Bridge to the A1058 involves crossing everything and moving across 4 lanes of 50mph traffic in about 300 yards of space
Yes, I'm sure the student buildings and redevelopment of the Warner Bros cinema area were the main reason for this being closed. Whilst I agree with John that it's "f*ing stupid" that explanation doesn't really cut it because the exact same situation applies to the section almost directly underneath it.
Thanks Jon. Its a complete horlicks. I drove along a large part of it earlier this year (I may have mentioned it on one of your previous vids) and I concur with your analysis that the planners must have spent the weekend on shrooms. A more bonkers bit of incomplete construction thats still in use will be hard to find.
When you eventually run out of motorways it would be cool if you did a video on the A55 AKA the North Wales Expressway, there's loads of cool oddities to and around it plus it actually has a number of motorway class/regulation sections on it though they aren't numbered A55(M), for reasons.
That cross-junction to the Swan House roundabout is pretty bad, but I think joining from the Great North Road is worse - 100 yards to merge and move to the right, while traffic is trying to do the opposite to get to the A1058, all in low-light conditions on the lower deck. Whatever road planners were smoking in the 60s, I'm glad they've stopped.
After living here all my life, I remember the motorway being built. The good thing is that you used to have to drive down Northumberland Street in the city centre to get over the Tyne Bridge, and now it's really fast to go south.... oh, hang on, the Tyne Bridge is down to one lane for painting it/de-rusting, and they have closed the Gateshead flyover on the other side due to safety concerns. Fun fact.....all the soil from the motorway excavations went on the town moor to make a big artificial ski-slope. This, like parts of the motorway, never happened. However you can still sledge down the hills there :)
5:50 - I did wonder if you were going to get to Byker Grove - and you did! Don't bother with the Baltic Exchange, the Gateshead Glasshouse or Grey's Monument :D
The Evening Chronicle described this motorway as three miles of motorway in one mile. It's completely mad, there's no way it's built to motorway standard. One of the few roads where you join from the right instead of the left. We have one in Peterborough (just) but I don't know of any others.
Come to York and do a video on our abandoned inner ring road scheme that would have decimated great swathes of the historic streets and buildings. I have all of the plans and drawings.
Before the motorway was built the A1 used to pass through central Newcastle. Most long distance drivers knew to head for the Tyne Tunnel to avoid that pinchpoint. Less than an hour after the motorway opened the zebra crossings in Gosforth, just North of Newcastle became impossible to use due to the weight of traffic using the new route. The drivers also saved on the tolls for the tunnel. The A1 was redirected through the tunnel to get the traffic away from the city.
the most lethal piece of that road is coming off the great north road northbound past barras bridge up a tiny slip road, then swinging straight into the 2nd lane of the southbound motorway, then trying to cross another lane if you want the coast road exit in the space of around 200m. That gets the old blood pumping.
Awww... they shut that sliproad. Back in the day the rumour was that the plans had been borrowed from Germany and that someone had forgotten to mirror them for driving on the left.
Thanks, Jon. That curved brickwork has interesting lines. Biggest point here was about the Metro - which is very welcome, and I'm glad we are not always slaves to the motorway.
You forgot to mention skybridge walkways which was partly built in that project and was abandoned part built as well. Nice to see you oot & aboot in the toon 😂
Just a word of thanks to you. I'm a vicar, so the "How the devil are you?" is probably someing I shouldn't like ... but I do. Every Sunday it makes me smile. Keep up the good work. You mixture of facts. humour, and sarcasm is really refreshing.
I like it too. It's a great figure of speech and considering the alternative might be the overused F word it is both polite and charasmatic at the same time. Another example would be in *The Great Escape* where the Australian says "How the devil should I know?" when today the film would more than likely go again for the swearword. On other figures of speech, I am quite happy to instinctively say "Thank God For That" as a natural part of the language, without necessarily intending to say "Praise The Lord".
Week by week Month by month Year by year Jon make life a little better. Honesty and humility Laughter and insight What a blessing Jon is to so many Bless you mate x
Thanks for a wonderful video. The big claim to fame of the road must surely be its use as the start of The Great North Run. Lovely acoustics in the tunnels for anyone shouting “Uggi! Uggi! Uggi”
One of the best yet mate, I love these inner-city motorways… Particularly the 60s brutalist concrete sledgehammers. So much more interesting to view and drive than endless M1 and M6 mid-section monotony. That closed slip has come up quite a lot lately on Ghost Slip Roads and Roads to nowhere on Facebook. I think the gates give it a lovely post-apocalyptic feel
I’ve had a shit week at work, plus sore throat and mild Man Flu all weekend, the missus has been away, the dishwasher’s broke ( and back-up gone away 🤣), endured a 2-hour carol service in the local church because my kids were in the choir… until this. Thanks Jon, you make it all worthwhile.
Drove through there (southbound) for the first time a few years back, felt like I'd gone down a one of those crazy pool slides by the time I was dumped out on the Tyne bridge.
They had already done some prep work for making the A1058 a motorway. They moved a lot of the graves at the north end of Jesmond Old Cemetery, expecting to widen the road. Since it never happened there's now a strangely empty area of a Victorian cemetery where the rest of the graves are closely packed together. Not that they'd have easily been able to go ahead with the road widening, because that would have meant knocking down or relocating the Grade 2 listed gate lodge and archway, designed by John Dobson, Newcastle's famous architect. And that would definitely have been a big sticking point.
I've known and used this odd little motorway for years. (With the nearby roundabout that goes under buildings, or alternatively has buildings built over it.) One minor point - I'm surprised you weren't told, as you visited! - there's no such place as NewcARstle. It's Newcăstle, man! (Geordie term of endearment.)
I've always found the Newcastle area traffic a pain to get caught in. I've memories of driving and of the approach lanes and turn offs being very sudden and catching me unawares. I think this was on the A 1058. When I was there with a bicycle, it was from quite another perspective as I had to cross the A167(M) at Jesmond which at one time must have been rather posh. It reminded me of Glasgow where the M8 cuts through Sauchiehall Street and disects the town. It's all concrete brutalism at its finest.
I've heard rumour that the road was laid out with driving on the right in mind after we joined the common market. As a regular user of the road, this makes sense to a degree. The Camden St ramp did indeed tighten one's balloon knot when it was in use.
nah that's a common misconception mate, even if you flip the side you drive on, it wouldn't have an affect on a roads design, there were just some pretty mental plans to have slip roads everywhere
@@50upss I don't think you're right about slip roads. Surely on a well designed motorway the on slips roads will be longer to allow more space for acceleration?
What you didn't mention Jon, on your video, about the Metro, was that the route of the Metro, from East of Manors Metro Station (I say that as there's a separate, but close Manors BR station), to a point east of Byker station, in a tunnel, was originally going to be one of these motorways you spoke about. The Metro, after Manors, would've took up two of the four tracks of the BR alignment until branching off onto the coastal loop, at Chillingham Road. When the motorway plan was shelved, the Metro took up that motorway route instead, and a new Byker station was opened, and the route went in tunnel for a few hundred metres, before turning left, and then right, to reach Chillingham Road. The advantage for the Metro was, it was much better located for Byker residents, than would've been the case if Metro had used the original plan, and served Heaton station. Heaton closed in 1978, and in 1982 Byker opened on the Metro. A railway using a route originally planned for a Motorway. You don't hear that too often!
I don't suppose you could point me at any sources for what the original plans were for the Shields Road motorway? the byker -chilli road tunnel as a motorway certainly makes sense at the byker end, but i'm really curious about what they expected to connect to at the other end - also how it was going to get over ouseburn, was the byker viaduct planned as part of the city motorways too?
I live in Heaton and I've always wondered why half of byker station goes into a tunnel (the side going towards Chillingham Road) this probably explains it
I live in Newcastle and I still find myself stunned that nobody seems to crash on the A167(M) and its insane junctions. The Great North Road/Coast Road junctions (they’re right next to each other) are a “just go and pray” moment. Then a sharp right bank before the A193 junction where you can easily crash into the side wall if you’re not careful when changing lanes (to avoid the lunacy of the junction). That junction goes immediately into the 55° North junction, which has no lane markings for 3 lanes of traffic to the roundabout. It’s a true marvel of the most idiotic design you could possibly imagine!
Alternatively I always thought a motorway directly from the A1 into the city centre of Newcastle, with no junction numbers, sporadic signs that give you upto 50 yards to cross 3 carriageways, and an end point of being slapbang in the middle of nowhere youd really want to go unless you lived there, was an excellent thing to use council time and funds on.
Fun Byker Grove trivia: the final episode starts with the kids all frozen in place but conscious and semi-aware of their fictional status, parts of the Grove are literally disappearing into white voids, the writers provide magic paper to allow the characters to write their own finishes, and ALSO a few of kids have wired the Grove to blow up. And dinosaurs too.
Yes!!! I've been waiting for this one. Thanks so much. Us locals know all about the sliproads on the right hand side..it's pure madness this road for visitors. My advice to anyone visiting and using this road if you're coming north across the tyne bridge from Gateshead stay in lane 2...the sliproads coming onto the a167m are very short. Not only staying in lane 2 helps avoid accidents but you're more prepared to take those right hand sliproads towards jesmond and/or gosforth. If you're heading north past the city centre to cowgate filter back into lane 1 when you're past the city centre as it opens up to a 70mph road.
I love the explanation of the f(honk)ing stupid closed slip road at Camden St..! As an ex-pat Brit living in the north east of America, all the motorway junctions are like that! The "clover leaf" design they like here was probably cheaper than the slip road & roundabout model we use in the UK as they only need to build one bridge not two, but there's the entry & exit crossover every time and at least around here, on very short slip roads. If you want an overseas special edition of Auto Shenanigans, look at the history and planned revision of the I93/I95 interchange north of Boston or the canceled I695 inner belt in Boston and the knock on effects of that on the traffic all around. Puts the M25 to shame!
A bypass bypass is not a bad idea. The E45 in Italy, between Modena and Rimini, has dual carriageway roads (bypasses) between the towns. Thus the motorway (bypass bypass) is used only for inter-city travel, rather than having junctions built for an Amazon lack-of-fulfilment centres like we get in UK - they are on the bypass rather than the bypass bypass.
driven that section loads along with the old junction now closed. as a young driver who hadn't driven motorways and city centres much was a real learning experience and likely made me the skilled driver I am today!
So much fun to see familiar streets on the channel! I’ve crossed that hectic motorway roundabout on my Deliveroo shifts countless times and lived to tell the tale
There's another, almost as stupid, entrance/exit - if you come onto the A167M heading north from the Jesmond road junction (A1058), the entry sliproad has two lanes. A common route from the left lane is to then have to cut right across the A167M (who can't see you prior to the merge) to immediately take a sharply curved low speed exit back down the Great North Road. Local legend has it that the whole complex was specifically designed to be *equally dangerous* if it was ever converted to left hand drive.
Ah brilliant I was waiting for this one. It really is a mess, and you have to be fearless when coming from the west along the A167M to join the A1058 under the double decker section.
Brilliant, thanks, Jon. You did leave out one thing - the Central Motorway is closed every year for the Great North Run, the half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields. The run starts on the A167 at the Town Moor and follows the motorway to the Tyne Bridge (which is also closed to traffic for the day). Is it the only motorway in the UK where you can legally go on foot?
yep, I used to negotiate this frequently. Coming North out of Newcastle on the Great North Road, if you want to get east on the A1058 coast road, you have to join in the fast lane, in the darkness of the lower deck, with limited visibility due to traffic approaching around a bend. Then you need to cross from lane 3 to 1 in a short distance, whist traffic is trying to join from the left side slip road too. Bonkers!
The Byker Grove theme tune took me back! I'm convinced John could make an interesting video about anything. Brilliantly scripted, witty, sharp and essential viewing. Cheers!
This one goes straight onto the "John's obit play-it-again classics list! "Looked bloody caad lad! Thought this'd be clarts, but nae, 'twas a canny vid mate!" (Bonus point if you can tell where I dipped into the Geordie Translator!)
I've been to Newcastle twice in the last few years (most recently just a few months ago) and having used this monterway was wondering when you'd get to this one - and now you have 😀
Newcastle, the end of a number of journeys up from "down south" and I don't mean Gateshead in the late 1980s. Drove this motorway a number of times, and survived the entry from the city centre (left hand side) and exit to Jesmond Road exit, on the right hand side, all in the space of a few hundred yards. Never know the history of the motorway. Like many who came to Newcastle, have fond memories of the place, although I didn't stay on after. Couldn't understand a bloody word the Geordies said, mind. I must be getting old as so many changes to roads I drove frequently back then.
Hello Jon, how the devil are you, have you had a good week?
🤣🤣🤣
Fun fact!
There are in fact no unexciting episodes of Secrets of the Motorway.
There was a plan for one, coincidentally about the A617M. The script was written, shooting locations selected, drone batteries charged - but then a change in the council meant the funding disappeared, and the new council found the original script had been buggered up royally. So they cancelled that video, and used the funds for a newly rewritten script which was much better planned and yet somehow makes it effortlessly seem that stuff just happens, which is crazy when you think about it.
Overall it's pretty wicked sweet awesome.
Thanks again Jon, and have a great week!
And how the devil are you?
I like this and so I have pressed the button specifically for that 👍🏻
A167M is pure infrastructure porn. I used to live up this way and going straight from bridge into tunnel into double stack motorway (all thanks to Newcastle's gorgeous topography) always gave like cool dystopian Metropolis vibes.
Also, the fact that a council decided to funnel money into the metro instead of building roads back in the '60s/'70s blows my mind. And thank fk they did!
Often get people being forced to cut across 3 lanes in that underpass section
I have no idea how I happened upon your channel, but I love it.
Have I ever been to these places? No
Do I even live in the country? No
Your humour, alone, is enough to keep me watching.
Keep up the great work sir 👏🏼
I live in Newcastle. I know the A167(M)very well as it gets in the way of my bike rides across the city from west to east. Jon didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but he still made me laugh. Every word he said is true. PS The traffic in Newcastle will be terrible for the next few years as the Tyne Bridge is partly closed for repairs ... best come by train or plane and use the Metro (or walk).
That merge as you come south from Gosforth is ****ing terrifying!
Yes I can vouch for that 😂. The only thing us southerners have similar to this is under the A40 at Paddington but it's nowhere near as terrifying
@@eddie7167God I hate that bit of road!
You've never lived until you've tried that on a motorcycle
Basically you just pray to whatever your diety of choice is, grab a handfull of throttle and go for it
You're literally in the hands of the Gods if you try it during rush hour
It's even more fun at dawn, dusk or during the winter months when the low winter sun blinds you
Great fun for those of a suicidal nature
Speaking as a Geordie, i'd like to thank you for reviewing our part-time carpark, and i hope you had a pleasant visit
I suppose due to the part time carpark nature, those dangerous junctions could be slightly more manageable. 😂
@@rogerwilkinson2192 once a year it's closed completely - the only time it can be described as safe!
@@rogerwilkinson2192 You had better ask Bucks Fizz about that, not to mention many others.
I lived in Newcastle for a few years and had to use the A167M all the time and I always thought who created this wackiness? Mental and shrooms did occur to me too. There's some more mental roads over in central Gateshead too. Also I miss the Metro it's mint.
That "ha ha" at the end of Byker Grove theme has haunted me for years
I love ALL episodes for Auto Shenanigans but for whatever reason, I REALLY loved this one. Perfectly scripted and edited, entertainly and interesting and made me laugh out loud. Twice. Also contains *spoiler* the actual Byker Grove and the theme tune complete with the 'famous' three laughs at the end. Not sure you can top this one Jon!! 🤘
I'd completely forgotten just how Ma-Ma-Max Headroom the Byker Grove theme tune sounded.
Thanks for finally exploring Newcastle’s favourite death-trap! What a fine piece of road it is!
One thing the esteemed road planners on Tyneside did get right - as a van driver, I am seriously impressed by the replacement of bus lanes with "no car" lanes. Keeps road usage efficient
I think they're all gone now, converted to bus lanes. The only no-car lanes I can think of now are in sunderland
@@chickenfizz Oh bollox... it's been a while. Too good to last
I drove into Newcastle a few weeks back for the first time in about 20 years. Navigating this motorway felt like a speeded up version of Mario Kart while on crack.
Thank you, you don’t know how long I’ve waited for someone to explain how that mess of an urban roadway came to be.
I drive on it, at least a couple of times a week, and it can be baffling .
ua-cam.com/video/NheiCkrY-Xk/v-deo.htmlsi=THe6bFmmdSjYLc1w
My most hated motorway! The anxiety I get having to drive through this. The criss-cross short merging points are scary.
Another hwicked sweet awesome video Jon, reminding us again that once upon a time civil engineers had ambition...
Don't you mean fwicked :)
Awesome video! My fave part of this crazy road is if you are coming from the B1318 from Haymarket station and heading to the coast road A1058, you have to merge onto the A167m from the right in the underground bit, then cross 3 lanes of 50mph traffic in about 150m to get to the coast road slip road! So dangerous and such a rush every time, I love it and would go out of my way to use that route when I lived in Newcastle 😂
Another motorway based oddity in the area is that Haymarket metro station was originally constructed in a way that it could have been used as a pillar of a planned but never built urban motorway.
It was originally a low circular structure but was rebuilt in 2008.
Merry Xmas Jon
I didn’t realise that about the Haymarket although I knew about the old bus station in Eldon Square possibly being on the line of one of them
I’m glad the plans were never completed as it would have destroyed much of the city centre but at the same time it’s mental that all this was planned to start with
As someone who came to Uni up here, of the four junctions, three are dangerous in at least one direction between merging, crossing and poor junction design. Its such a short road to have so many terror causing sections
Another weird thing about the A167(M) is that you can cycle from the Swan House roundabout and take the next left, staying to the left all the time. That lane is not part of the motorway. Has to be the closest you can get to a motorway without being on it. Which makes it even more weird. It's also quite a challenging gradient coming off, part of the Great North Run route one year (when South Tyneside didn't want runners coming through due to their covid regulations).
Try cycling on the A27 south of Havant. 4 lanes each side with a hard shoulder. I did it back in the 80s. Never again!
@@rogink I did it in the 90s it wasn't any better. I was cycling from Brighton to Shaftesbury (as you do) and several drivers beeped me on that section of road because they thought I was on the motorway!
A round of applause for that shot at 1:04, brilliant. Was kinda hoping for the Get Carter theme as the outro but I get that Byker Grove would be a more popular choice. Still shudder at that paintball incident..
He can't see man!!!
Fantastic! I lived with in Windsor Terrace Newcastle Uni accomodation in 2017 and spenty days travelling home terrified of the sliproad that joined of the road on the righthand side of the motorway or from manors carpark. Great to see Newcastle finally mentioned on the channel!
Ditto, but 2000-2001
How can anyone claim to be university educated, yet use a phrase such as "joined off" & even then manage to spell it incorrectly?
@@ashleyhoward8926 Pedant.
This brings back memories of being a child in the back seat of my parents Austin 1800 in the ‘70s on trips from home in mid Hampshire to cousins in Newcastle. To you, the A167(M) might mean questionable local government decision making and dangerous junctions (alright, I’ll give you that since my aunt had a car written off at one), but to me it will always mean the imminent end to travel sickness, I-spy and sibling squabbling, and the resultant realisation that there may be a god after all!
Driving home for Christmas in Newcastle with my family this evening, my wife and I are scheduling our entire trip from the South of the UK so she doesn't have to drive on the central motorway scissor junction at Jesmond Road.
Thanks Jon, for another exciting episode of Secrets of the Motorway, some light relief after what I've been up to this week.
What have you been up to ? Do tell us 😁
I work in education so Secrets of the Motorway is the only thing between me and a fatal dose of drain cleaner.
Vaguely remember that junction being closed, around the same those student flats were built. Always assumed they were a factor too.
The A167m is absolutely insane. Trying to get from Barras Bridge to the A1058 involves crossing everything and moving across 4 lanes of 50mph traffic in about 300 yards of space
Yes, I'm sure the student buildings and redevelopment of the Warner Bros cinema area were the main reason for this being closed. Whilst I agree with John that it's "f*ing stupid" that explanation doesn't really cut it because the exact same situation applies to the section almost directly underneath it.
Thanks Jon. Its a complete horlicks. I drove along a large part of it earlier this year (I may have mentioned it on one of your previous vids) and I concur with your analysis that the planners must have spent the weekend on shrooms. A more bonkers bit of incomplete construction thats still in use will be hard to find.
But don't let it Bovril you
When you eventually run out of motorways it would be cool if you did a video on the A55 AKA the North Wales Expressway, there's loads of cool oddities to and around it plus it actually has a number of motorway class/regulation sections on it though they aren't numbered A55(M), for reasons.
Has he done the wonderful M56 yet leading to the wonderful A55? I can't remember.
@@antonycharnock2993 I thought he did all the M-something motorways before starting on the A-something(M) roads.
Its not a motorway because Class IV traffic is permitted to use it, which are not permitted on motorways.
That cross-junction to the Swan House roundabout is pretty bad, but I think joining from the Great North Road is worse - 100 yards to merge and move to the right, while traffic is trying to do the opposite to get to the A1058, all in low-light conditions on the lower deck. Whatever road planners were smoking in the 60s, I'm glad they've stopped.
After living here all my life, I remember the motorway being built. The good thing is that you used to have to drive down Northumberland Street in the city centre to get over the Tyne Bridge, and now it's really fast to go south.... oh, hang on, the Tyne Bridge is down to one lane for painting it/de-rusting, and they have closed the Gateshead flyover on the other side due to safety concerns.
Fun fact.....all the soil from the motorway excavations went on the town moor to make a big artificial ski-slope. This, like parts of the motorway, never happened. However you can still sledge down the hills there :)
I use the A167M quite often, and I agree, it's a bit mental. But you get used to it.
Yep I quite like it! Though some sections are quite tense!
Anyone else hang around right to the very end to hear the Byker grove 'haha, haha'?
Love the architecture note at the end. Great video as always!
5:50 - I did wonder if you were going to get to Byker Grove - and you did! Don't bother with the Baltic Exchange, the Gateshead Glasshouse or Grey's Monument :D
The Evening Chronicle described this motorway as three miles of motorway in one mile. It's completely mad, there's no way it's built to motorway standard. One of the few roads where you join from the right instead of the left. We have one in Peterborough (just) but I don't know of any others.
They’ve probably only kept it designated as a motorway because it would be a nightmare with all those farm vehicles, cyclists and horses. 🤣
M8 in Glasgow
@@acciid also a complete f'ing nightmare!
Come to York and do a video on our abandoned inner ring road scheme that would have decimated great swathes of the historic streets and buildings. I have all of the plans and drawings.
Before the motorway was built the A1 used to pass through central Newcastle. Most long distance drivers knew to head for the Tyne Tunnel to avoid that pinchpoint. Less than an hour after the motorway opened the zebra crossings in Gosforth, just North of Newcastle became impossible to use due to the weight of traffic using the new route. The drivers also saved on the tolls for the tunnel. The A1 was redirected through the tunnel to get the traffic away from the city.
Ooh! Byker!
the most lethal piece of that road is coming off the great north road northbound past barras bridge up a tiny slip road, then swinging straight into the 2nd lane of the southbound motorway, then trying to cross another lane if you want the coast road exit in the space of around 200m. That gets the old blood pumping.
Awww... they shut that sliproad. Back in the day the rumour was that the plans had been borrowed from Germany and that someone had forgotten to mirror them for driving on the left.
Wicked, Sweet, Awesome 👍
Thanks, Jon. That curved brickwork has interesting lines. Biggest point here was about the Metro - which is very welcome, and I'm glad we are not always slaves to the motorway.
Yes Jon! The moment I’ve been waiting for, what a time to be alive!!!!
Nearly die merging on this beauty at least 5 times per week …
You forgot to mention skybridge walkways which was partly built in that project and was abandoned part built as well. Nice to see you oot & aboot in the toon 😂
Just a word of thanks to you. I'm a vicar, so the "How the devil are you?" is probably someing I shouldn't like ... but I do. Every Sunday it makes me smile. Keep up the good work. You mixture of facts. humour, and sarcasm is really refreshing.
I like it too. It's a great figure of speech and considering the alternative might be the overused F word it is both polite and charasmatic at the same time. Another example would be in
*The Great Escape* where the Australian says "How the devil should I know?" when today the film would more than likely go again for the swearword. On other figures of speech, I am quite happy to instinctively say "Thank God For That" as a natural part of the language, without necessarily intending to say "Praise The Lord".
I think that was the maddest bits of road you’ve reported on Jon?! Crazy. They were definitely on shrooms back then lol
Week by week
Month by month
Year by year
Jon make life a little better.
Honesty and humility
Laughter and insight
What a blessing Jon is to so many
Bless you mate x
Thanks for a wonderful video.
The big claim to fame of the road must surely be its use as the start of The Great North Run.
Lovely acoustics in the tunnels for anyone shouting “Uggi! Uggi! Uggi”
One of the best yet mate, I love these inner-city motorways… Particularly the 60s brutalist concrete sledgehammers. So much more interesting to view and drive than endless M1 and M6 mid-section monotony. That closed slip has come up quite a lot lately on Ghost Slip Roads and Roads to nowhere on Facebook. I think the gates give it a lovely post-apocalyptic feel
I’ve had a shit week at work, plus sore throat and mild Man Flu all weekend, the missus has been away, the dishwasher’s broke ( and back-up gone away 🤣), endured a 2-hour carol service in the local church because my kids were in the choir… until this. Thanks Jon, you make it all worthwhile.
Drove through there (southbound) for the first time a few years back, felt like I'd gone down a one of those crazy pool slides by the time I was dumped out on the Tyne bridge.
This is the beauty of UA-cam and long may there be space for legendary characters like Jon!
They had already done some prep work for making the A1058 a motorway. They moved a lot of the graves at the north end of Jesmond Old Cemetery, expecting to widen the road. Since it never happened there's now a strangely empty area of a Victorian cemetery where the rest of the graves are closely packed together.
Not that they'd have easily been able to go ahead with the road widening, because that would have meant knocking down or relocating the Grade 2 listed gate lodge and archway, designed by John Dobson, Newcastle's famous architect. And that would definitely have been a big sticking point.
That car park looks brilliant. Form and function! Love it❤
I've known and used this odd little motorway for years. (With the nearby roundabout that goes under buildings, or alternatively has buildings built over it.)
One minor point - I'm surprised you weren't told, as you visited! - there's no such place as NewcARstle. It's Newcăstle, man! (Geordie term of endearment.)
I've always found the Newcastle area traffic a pain to get caught in. I've memories of driving and of the approach lanes and turn offs being very sudden and catching me unawares. I think this was on the A 1058. When I was there with a bicycle, it was from quite another perspective as I had to cross the A167(M) at Jesmond which at one time must have been rather posh. It reminded me of Glasgow where the M8 cuts through Sauchiehall Street and disects the town. It's all concrete brutalism at its finest.
I've heard rumour that the road was laid out with driving on the right in mind after we joined the common market. As a regular user of the road, this makes sense to a degree. The Camden St ramp did indeed tighten one's balloon knot when it was in use.
nah that's a common misconception mate, even if you flip the side you drive on, it wouldn't have an affect on a roads design, there were just some pretty mental plans to have slip roads everywhere
@@50upss I don't think you're right about slip roads. Surely on a well designed motorway the on slips roads will be longer to allow more space for acceleration?
I bet the next episode of Secrets of The Motorway would be the A194 (M) and then the series will conclude with 2 parts of the M25.
"Conceived after a night on shrooms" .... Story of my life! 🤣
Merry Christmas from Mr & Mrs @6thDayBlue
I’ve been looking forward to this one! People moan that the IRR here in Leeds is difficult but it has nothing on the Newcastle Urban Motorway
"Newcastle Urban Motorway" The what now? I think you'll find it's called the central motorway.
Oh Jon. I drove north on that motorway two years ago and still feel traumatised by the experience. 🥴
That little closed off slip road onto the northbound section was bloody terrifying to use. Surprised it stayed open as long as it did!
What you didn't mention Jon, on your video, about the Metro, was that the route of the Metro, from East of Manors Metro Station (I say that as there's a separate, but close Manors BR station), to a point east of Byker station, in a tunnel, was originally going to be one of these motorways you spoke about. The Metro, after Manors, would've took up two of the four tracks of the BR alignment until branching off onto the coastal loop, at Chillingham Road. When the motorway plan was shelved, the Metro took up that motorway route instead, and a new Byker station was opened, and the route went in tunnel for a few hundred metres, before turning left, and then right, to reach Chillingham Road. The advantage for the Metro was, it was much better located for Byker residents, than would've been the case if Metro had used the original plan, and served Heaton station. Heaton closed in 1978, and in 1982 Byker opened on the Metro.
A railway using a route originally planned for a Motorway. You don't hear that too often!
I don't suppose you could point me at any sources for what the original plans were for the Shields Road motorway? the byker -chilli road tunnel as a motorway certainly makes sense at the byker end, but i'm really curious about what they expected to connect to at the other end - also how it was going to get over ouseburn, was the byker viaduct planned as part of the city motorways too?
@amytysoe2292 I only remember years ago, reading in a magazine, an article on the metro, mentioning that, but no other details.
I live in Heaton and I've always wondered why half of byker station goes into a tunnel (the side going towards Chillingham Road) this probably explains it
Nice Jon 👍🌟Merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏻to you and family . Merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏻to everyone else watching Jon’s videos.
And you, Mark. 🙂
Absolutely bonkers! Great vid Jon!
Loved it. Hope to see more around tyne side and the North East. You Legend.
I live in Newcastle and I still find myself stunned that nobody seems to crash on the A167(M) and its insane junctions. The Great North Road/Coast Road junctions (they’re right next to each other) are a “just go and pray” moment. Then a sharp right bank before the A193 junction where you can easily crash into the side wall if you’re not careful when changing lanes (to avoid the lunacy of the junction). That junction goes immediately into the 55° North junction, which has no lane markings for 3 lanes of traffic to the roundabout.
It’s a true marvel of the most idiotic design you could possibly imagine!
Always a fan of Newcastle!
Thanks a lot mate, appreciate it :)
Alternatively I always thought a motorway directly from the A1 into the city centre of Newcastle, with no junction numbers, sporadic signs that give you upto 50 yards to cross 3 carriageways, and an end point of being slapbang in the middle of nowhere youd really want to go unless you lived there, was an excellent thing to use council time and funds on.
That's it...I've seen me Jago Hazard and now me Auto Shenanigans...my weekend is complete.
Shrooms and a box of Scalectrix is a typical road planning scheme meeting.
That motorway is just across the town moor from me, I think the worst bit is where it merges from Great North Road "underground".
Fun Byker Grove trivia: the final episode starts with the kids all frozen in place but conscious and semi-aware of their fictional status, parts of the Grove are literally disappearing into white voids, the writers provide magic paper to allow the characters to write their own finishes, and ALSO a few of kids have wired the Grove to blow up.
And dinosaurs too.
Another very good video. Edited down to a densely informative few minutes, there's no padding in the videos on this channel.
Yes!!! I've been waiting for this one. Thanks so much.
Us locals know all about the sliproads on the right hand side..it's pure madness this road for visitors. My advice to anyone visiting and using this road if you're coming north across the tyne bridge from Gateshead stay in lane 2...the sliproads coming onto the a167m are very short. Not only staying in lane 2 helps avoid accidents but you're more prepared to take those right hand sliproads towards jesmond and/or gosforth. If you're heading north past the city centre to cowgate filter back into lane 1 when you're past the city centre as it opens up to a 70mph road.
I just knew in my heart that the Byker Grove tune was coming! :)
Byker byker byker grove!!!! If it hadn't been such good drama, we may never would have had Ant and Dec! 😂
Good to see a sensible critique of the A 167M my life is now complete. It's a real challenge to navigate that motorway after 5am ......maybe 4am
I love the explanation of the f(honk)ing stupid closed slip road at Camden St..! As an ex-pat Brit living in the north east of America, all the motorway junctions are like that! The "clover leaf" design they like here was probably cheaper than the slip road & roundabout model we use in the UK as they only need to build one bridge not two, but there's the entry & exit crossover every time and at least around here, on very short slip roads.
If you want an overseas special edition of Auto Shenanigans, look at the history and planned revision of the I93/I95 interchange north of Boston or the canceled I695 inner belt in Boston and the knock on effects of that on the traffic all around. Puts the M25 to shame!
Hi John I live in the newcastle area and try not to drive on this piece of road as it is a bit of a nightmare at certain times of the day.
A bypass bypass is not a bad idea. The E45 in Italy, between Modena and Rimini, has dual carriageway roads (bypasses) between the towns. Thus the motorway (bypass bypass) is used only for inter-city travel, rather than having junctions built for an Amazon lack-of-fulfilment centres like we get in UK - they are on the bypass rather than the bypass bypass.
driven that section loads along with the old junction now closed. as a young driver who hadn't driven motorways and city centres much was a real learning experience and likely made me the skilled driver I am today!
Almost spat my tea out when you said about Biker Grove
So much fun to see familiar streets on the channel! I’ve crossed that hectic motorway roundabout on my Deliveroo shifts countless times and lived to tell the tale
Ah my home town/city and yes the A167m is beautifully nuts, but it kinda works.
There's another, almost as stupid, entrance/exit - if you come onto the A167M heading north from the Jesmond road junction (A1058), the entry sliproad has two lanes. A common route from the left lane is to then have to cut right across the A167M (who can't see you prior to the merge) to immediately take a sharply curved low speed exit back down the Great North Road. Local legend has it that the whole complex was specifically designed to be *equally dangerous* if it was ever converted to left hand drive.
Another informative episode Jon, ending on Byker Grove takes me back to my childhood.
Ah brilliant I was waiting for this one. It really is a mess, and you have to be fearless when coming from the west along the A167M to join the A1058 under the double decker section.
Glad I don’t have to navigate those junctions , another insight of how not to design something properly, nice post Jon
As someone who doesn't drive on the central motorway often, I've never had any issues joining or leaving it.
Brilliant, thanks, Jon. You did leave out one thing - the Central Motorway is closed every year for the Great North Run, the half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields. The run starts on the A167 at the Town Moor and follows the motorway to the Tyne Bridge (which is also closed to traffic for the day). Is it the only motorway in the UK where you can legally go on foot?
At the top of the A167M is one of very few motorways which has
a slip road joining in the fast lane
Its chaos and dangerous
yep, I used to negotiate this frequently. Coming North out of Newcastle on the Great North Road, if you want to get east on the A1058 coast road, you have to join in the fast lane, in the darkness of the lower deck, with limited visibility due to traffic approaching around a bend. Then you need to cross from lane 3 to 1 in a short distance, whist traffic is trying to join from the left side slip road too. Bonkers!
@@shm5547 Have done this myself many times over the years , yet to see an accident there, though I have needed the brown pants a few times
Never thought id see my old uni accommodation on a youtube video! Big up Glenamara house!
The Byker Grove theme tune took me back! I'm convinced John could make an interesting video about anything. Brilliantly scripted, witty, sharp and essential viewing. Cheers!
This one goes straight onto the "John's obit play-it-again classics list!
"Looked bloody caad lad! Thought this'd be clarts, but nae, 'twas a canny vid mate!"
(Bonus point if you can tell where I dipped into the Geordie Translator!)
I've been to Newcastle twice in the last few years (most recently just a few months ago) and having used this monterway was wondering when you'd get to this one - and now you have 😀
My home town! Hope you went out for the night in the Bigg Market.
Great vid.
What a lovely car park
Newcastle, the end of a number of journeys up from "down south" and I don't mean Gateshead in the late 1980s. Drove this motorway a number of times, and survived the entry from the city centre (left hand side) and exit to Jesmond Road exit, on the right hand side, all in the space of a few hundred yards. Never know the history of the motorway.
Like many who came to Newcastle, have fond memories of the place, although I didn't stay on after. Couldn't understand a bloody word the Geordies said, mind.
I must be getting old as so many changes to roads I drove frequently back then.
Nice to see it's not just my council that has been ingesting forest plants...
Loved Byker Grove back when I was young.