Hoddle Highway is an urban highway in Melbourne linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway, itself a sub-section of Hoddle Main Road. Both these names are not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts: Hoddle Street, Punt Road and Barkly Street. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion, as well to avoid confusion between declarations.

Hoddle Highway
(Hoddle Main Road)

Hoddle Street, Punt Road, Barkly Street

Hoddle Street looking south, with the Collingwood Town Hall on the left
Hoddle Highway is located in Melbourne
North end
North end
South end
South end
Coordinates
General information
TypeHighway
Length10.9 km (6.8 mi)[1]
Route number(s)
  • Metro Route 29 (1965–present)
    Entire route
  • Concurrencies:
  • Metro Route 3 (1965–present)
    (through St Kilda Junction)
Major junctions
North end High Street
Fitzroy North, Melbourne
 
South end Marine Parade
Elwood, Melbourne
Location(s)
Major suburbsCollingwood, Abbotsford, Richmond, South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St Kilda
Highway system

The highway is named after the surveyor Robert Hoddle, who planned central Melbourne's Hoddle Grid.[citation needed]

Route edit

Hoddle Street starts at the intersection with Queens Parade and High Street in Fitzroy North and heads south, crossing the Eastern Freeway one kilometre later: it is from here the Hoddle Highway officially starts. It continues south until the intersection with Wellington Parade and Bridge Road, becoming Punt Road. It continues south, passing near the Melbourne Cricket Ground, under Citylink in Richmond, across the Yarra River via the Hoddle Bridge through the South Yarra district to where St Kilda Road and Dandenong Road meet at St Kilda Junction; here the highway declaration ends, but the road continues south on the other side of St Kilda Junction as Barkly Street through the St Kilda city centre, to eventually terminate at Marine Parade in Elwood.[1]

History edit

The elimination of the railway crossing at the Clifton Hill railway gates, where Heidelberg-Eltham Road (known today as Heidelberg Road) crossed the Hurstbridge and Whittlesea (now Mernda) railway lines and then Hoddle Street, was approved by the Victorian government on 19 May 1955, instructing the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) to proceed with the construction of a road overpass.[2] The Board contracted the project to Lewis Construction Co. Pty. Ltd., estimated to cost 240,000. Work commenced in February 1956,[3] with the southern portion open to traffic in April 1957, and the remaining sections, including the ramps leading to and from Hoddle Street, opening several weeks later in May 1957.[4]

The Country Roads Board declared Hoddle Main Road a Main Road in the 1959–60 financial year,[5] from Queens Parade in Fitzroy North, along Hoddle Street through Richmond, along Punt Road through South Yarra, and along Barkly Street to Elwood.[5]

Hoddle Main Road (including all its constituent roads) was signed as Metropolitan Route 29 between Fitzroy North and Elwood in 1965.[citation needed]

The passing of the Transport Act of 1983[6] (itself an evolution from the original Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924[7]) provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through VicRoads. The Hoddle Highway was declared a State Highway in September 1994,[8] from Victoria Street in Richmond to the St Kilda Junction in St Kilda, later extended north to the interchange with the Eastern Freeway in January 1995;[9] all roads were known (and signposted) as their constituent parts.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004[10] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Hoddle Highway (Arterial #6080), beginning at the interchange of Hoddle Street with the Eastern Freeway at Clifton Hill and ending at St Kilda Road (Nepean Highway) in St Kilda,[11] while re-declaring the remnants between Clifton Hill and Elwood as Hoddle Main Road (Arterial #5880);[12] as before, all roads are still known (and signposted) as their constituent parts.

1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan edit

The Hoddle Street – Punt Road – Barkly Street corridor was designated in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F2 Freeway. Part of the F2 Freeway would have connected St Kilda Junction to the Metropolitan Ring Road at the Hume Freeway (Craigieburn Bypass), via the Hoddle Highway and Merri Creek.[citation needed]

Hoddle Street Massacre edit

In 1987, Hoddle Street was the site of a deadly shooting spree known as the Hoddle Street massacre. The perpetrator, 19-year-old army recruit Julian Knight, killed seven people and injured 19 others during his rampage. He is currently serving seven consecutive terms of life imprisonment.[13]

Major intersections edit

LGALocation[1][11][12]km[1]miDestinationsNotes
YarraClifton HillFitzroy North boundary0.00.0  High Street (Metro Route 29 northeast) – Northcote, Reservoir, Epping
Queens Parade (southwest) – Fitzroy North
Northern terminus of road, northern end of Hoddle Street
Metro Route 29 continues northeast along High Street
0.20.12  Heidelberg Road (Metro Route 46) – Fitzroy North, Ivanhoe, Greensborough, Diamond CreekWestbound and eastbound entry to Heidelberg Road northbound only, westbound exit from Heidelberg Road southbound only
Clifton HillCollingwoodAbbotsford tripoint1.10.68  Alexandra Parade (Metro Route 83 west) – Carlton, Parkville
  Eastern Freeway (M3 east) – Ringwood, Dandenong, Frankston
No access to Eastern Freeway westbound from Hoddle Street southbound
Northern terminus of Hoddle Highway (declared)
CollingwoodAbbotsford boundary1.60.99  Johnson Street – Carlton, Kew, Ringwood
YarraMelbourne boundaryCollingwoodAbbotsfordEast MelbourneRichmond quadripoint2.71.7  Victoria Parade (Metro Route 32 west) – North Melbourne
  Victoria Street (Metro Route 32 east) – Kew, Forest Hill, Montrose
East MelbourneRichmond boundary3.62.2  Wellington Parade (Metro Route 30 west) – City
  Bridge Road (Metro Route 30 east) – Camberwell
Southern end of Hoddle Street, northern end of Punt Road
East MelbourneMelbourneRichmond tripoint4.22.6Brunton Avenue – East Melbourne
MelbourneRichmond boundary4.32.7Lilydale, Belgrave, Glen Waverley, Sandringham, Frankston, Pakenham and Cranbourne railway lines
MelbourneRichmondCremorne tripoint4.42.7  Olympic Boulevard (Metro Route 20 west) – Southbank
  Swan Street (Metro Route 20 east) – Burnley, Camberwell
MelbourneCremorne boundary4.93.0  CityLink (M1) – Kooyong, Chadstone, Narre WarrenWestbound exit from CityLink northbound only, eastbound entry to CityLink southbound only
Yarra River5.03.1Hoddle Bridge
MelbourneStonnington boundarySouth Yarra5.13.2  Alexandra Avenue (Tourist Route 2) – Southbank, Burnley
6.03.7  Toorak Road (Metro Route 26) – Albert Park, Kooyong, Burwood East, Ferntree Gully
South YarraMelbournePrahran boundary6.84.2  Commercial Road – Glen Iris, The Alfred Hospital
MelbournePort PhillipStonnington tripointMelbournePrahranWindsor boundary7.34.5  High Street (Metro Route 24) – Albert Park, Glen Iris, Glen Waverley, Wantirna South
Port PhillipStonnington boundarySt KildaWindsor boundary7.94.9  St Kilda Road (Metro Route 3 north) – City
  Queens Way (National Alt Route 1 east) – Oakleigh, Dandenong, Narre Warren
No access to St Kilda Road: one way southbound
Northern terminus of concurrency with Metro Route 3
Port PhillipSt Kilda8.05.0  St Kilda Road (Metro Route 3 north) – City
  Queens Road (National Alt Route 1 west) – Southbank
Fitzroy Street – St Kilda
Westbound entry to Queens Road northbound only
Southern terminus of Hoddle Highway (declared)
Southern end of Punt Road, northern end of Barkly Street
8.25.1  St Kilda Road (Metro Route 3 south) – Mordialloc, Frankston, Dromana, PortseaNo right turn from Barkly Street to St Kilda Road southbound
Southern terminus of concurrency with Metro Route 3
8.45.2Princes Street (west) – St Kilda
Alma Road (east) – Caulfield North
8.95.5Grey Street (west) – St Kilda
Inkerman Street (east) – Caulfield North
9.25.7Carlisle Street – St Kilda, Balaclava, Caulfield East
Elwood10.86.7Glen Huntly Road – Elsternwick, Glen Huntly, Carnegie
10.96.8  Marine Parade (Metro Route 33 north) – St Kilda, Port Melbourne
  Ormond Esplanade (Metro Route 33 southeast) – Brighton, Sandringham, Mordialloc
Southern terminus of road and Metro Route 29
Southern end of Barkly Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Google (19 October 2021). "Hoddle Main Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Clifton Hill rail bridge gets 'go head'". The Argus. Melbourne. 19 May 1955. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Country Roads Board Victoria. Forty-Third Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1956". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 23 November 1956. p. 36.
  4. ^ "Country Roads Board Victoria. Forty-Fourth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1957". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 21 November 1957. p. 25.
  5. ^ a b "Country Roads Board Victoria. Forty-Seventh Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1960". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 21 November 1960. pp. 10–12.
  6. ^ State of Victoria, An Act to Re-enact with Amendments the Law relating to Transport including the Law with respect to Railways, Roads and Tramways... 23 June 1983
  7. ^ State of Victoria, An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes 30 December 1924
  8. ^ "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 8 September 1994. pp. 2411–2. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 26 January 1995. pp. 180–1. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  10. ^ State Government of Victoria. "Road Management Act 2004" (PDF). Government of Victoria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  11. ^ a b VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads (Part A) 2015" (PDF). Government of Victoria. p. 930. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  12. ^ a b VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads (Part A) 2015" (PDF). Government of Victoria. p. 796. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  13. ^ Murphy, Padraic (9 May 2013). "Hoddle St killer Julian Knight seeks aid for release bid". Herald Sun. Retrieved 9 June 2013.

External links edit