The A182 begins on the A194(M) motorway between Gateshead and Washington. Though it is a non-primary route it takes the form of a fast grade-separated dual carriageway passing through the New Town of Washington, before meeting at a roundabout with the A183 in Shiney Row . Now single-carriageway, the A182 continues south through Philadelphia to Houghton-le-Spring where it meets the A690 at an unusual linked double roundabout interchange. The A690 road, which has the grade separation here, passes above the northern roundabout and below the southern roundabout. The road then passes through Hetton-le-Hole, Easington Lane and South Hetton to end at an interchange with the A19, just west of Easington Village.

In the 1990s a new road was built, also numbered A182, linking the A19 to new industrial areas to the south of Seaham – this road is not a continuation of the original A182 despite sharing its number.