(18 Apr 2022, 10:15 am)Adrian wrote I agree it's been encouraged for decades, but planners must still see it as being vastly underused, when people still opt to short cut over the Tyne Bridge and central motorway for example. I think there was hope that the air quality restrictions would tackle some of this, but omitting private cars has put a bit of a spanner in the works here. Maybe it'll be dealt with when the original scheme is deemed insufficient, or maybe they'll look to tackle it in another way, e.g. congestion charging.

I'm a bit too young to remember the realignment in 86, but certainly there's been constant investment in the A1(M) between J61 at Bowburn and J80 at Seaton Burn for decades now. Then there's the projects on the A19 that you mention, plus the £265m or so that the expansion of the Tyne Tunnel cost into a second tunnel.

I personally think the Western Bypass was done on the cheap.
Absolutely no future proofing and the inevitable short term fixes, snarl ups and lack of public transport didn't help.
Then throw in the fact that going through Low Fell, was the traditional route and is shorter in distance for the majority of users. 

The works to improve and widen it at various stages between Birtley and Westerhope will hopefully be enough going forward. But I'm not convinced.

The realignment (I say 86 - it may have been a year or so earlier) works fascinated me at the time.
The idea of switching the road direction from basically 180 degrees north/south and moving it to the left a bit (along with the other works) blew my mind.

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(18 Apr 2022, 10:07 am)Ambassador wrote Yeah, that’s my preferred route- occasionally get snarled up at Whitemare Pool but the traffic layout in Gateshead isn’t making me reconsider using my car, I just divert. It has absolutely put me off using a bus through Gateshead or visiting Tesco or the Vue.

It has the danger of it becoming a ghost town. Bypassed by traffic completely. 
Almost like a modern day Stanley.

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(18 Apr 2022, 10:20 am)Storx wrote Imagine it will be just Charles Street / High Street West. The way it's built they should be able to keep it open from the Tyne Bridge to the Felling Bypass roundabout and at the other end I'd imagine they'll just make the roundabout two way round either way and knock it down in sections with the Durham Road traffic pushed along Prince Consort Road.

It'll be busy but won't be that bad. 

You're more optimistic than I am!