Coun Diana Beith was speaking in a House of Lords debate in which she pleaded for the route to be reclassified as of national importance.
Coun Beith, who sits in the House as Baroness Maddock, said: "I understand that proposals for regional funding allocations are about to be considered, and the status of the A1 should be revisited as part of this process.
"There is huge support from businesses and everyone in the north-east for the A1 to be considered a route of strategic national importance throughout its length.
"Significant investment is needed to bring it up to a good standard. I urge the Minister to look urgently into this matter.
"It would be even better if he drove up this section of the A1 on a Friday at teatime so that he could see for himself just how poor this important main route is."
The road from Morpeth to Felton and almost the whole of the 30 miles between Alnwick and Berwick, is single carriageway.
The newly formed A1 Campaign Group is pressing the case for the road to be completely dualled and it now has cross-party support.
But Coun Beith warned that while nothing happens the economic divide between the north-east of England and the south of England continues to widen.
"Berwick borough has almost the lowest average wage in England," she said. "People and politicians across the area believe that it is now imperative that the basic infrastructure is put into place to try to address this divide."
In 2005, the classification of the road was downgraded from of strategic national importance to of regional importance which meant that the costs of any upgrade would have to come from the regional budget.
Coun Beith said: "At the time of the change—and I have never got to the bottom of this—there was confusion about who was responsible for the money for dualling the A1, and everybody passed the buck.
"The result was that schemes that had been worked up in those two areas were dropped. The sum of £4.26 million had been spent on preparatory work on the Morpeth to Felton stretch and £1.23 million had been spent on the Adderstone to Belford section, and that scheme was virtually ready to go. The planning and everything had been done.
"Unfortunately, a head-on collision between a lorry and a car on the dangerous single carriageway at Adderstone recently resulted in the death of a local man."
She said it was imperative for the economic development of the north-east of England that a high standard infrastructure linking the city regions of Leeds, the Tees valley, Tyne and Wear and Edinburgh was put in place.
Lord Walton of Detchant backed Coun Beith's call for dualling, especially on the dangerous Mousen bends which locals called 'the little north lane'.
He said: "We have now been told that the dangerous Mousen bends will not be dualled until 2019. This is disgraceful.
"It is absolutely crucial that the Government seriously reappraise the matter and adopt a new approach. This road should be regarded again as a road of strategic national importance."
Lord Adonis, Minister of State for the Department for Transport, acknowledged Coun Beith and Lord Walton had made a number of serious points about both the traffic hazards and the effects on the local population and the local economy which he would look into.
On the specific issue of the classification of the A1 north of Newcastle as a regional road rather than as a part of the national network, he explained the reason for this is that the traffic flows are significantly lower than the threshold for national classification.
"That is why it is for the region to decide whether or not to include A1 north of Newcastle schemes in its recommendations to the Government in any future review of spending," he said. "The criteria for a national route include an annual average daily traffic flow of 60,000 vehicles."
Traffic flow on the A1 north of Seaton Burn to Clifton is 34,100 vehicles a day. Traffic flows generally reduce as it goes further north to the extent that the flow from the northern end of the Berwick bypass to the border with Scotland is 10,500 vehicles a day.
Lord Adonis continued: "The criteria for a national route include an annual average daily traffic flow of 60,000 vehicles so the figure is not only a short way from the current requirements for it to be part of the national network; it is a long way from them."
Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith has also called on the Government to press ahead with the dualling of the Adderstone section of the A1.
He said: "As the Government is looking for construction projects in which to invest as a means of alleviating the current economic downturn, the dualling of the A1 at Adderstone, where so much of the preparation has already been carried out, should be a priority."