Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Elizabeth St, looking south from the Queen Victoria Market

Elizabeth St, looking south towards Flinders Street Station.

Michaels camera store corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale Street

Elizabeth Street is one of the main north-south streets in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837.

Geography

From the south, the street runs from Flinders Street Station past the western end of the Bourke Street Mall, with the Queen Victoria Market to the west at the northern end of the CBD. The street terminates in a large, complex roundabout at the northern end, which connects to Peel Street to the south-west, Flemington Road to the north-west, Royal Parade, the beginning of the Hume Highway, the main route to Sydney to the north, and Grattan Street to the East. This complex, high-traffic roundabout (known as the Haymarket roundabout) is further complicated by trams travelling through it on routes 19, 55 and 59.

Elizabeth Street is the lowest point in the Melbourne central business district, with land rising both to the east and west, and more gradually to the north. Since it is built on top of the historical site of a natural creek, it has suffered numerous floods in Melbourne's history. The Elizabeth Street drain runs from Carlton in the north to the Yarra River in the south, carrying stormwater from the inner northern suburbs and city centre. This drain is a significant source of pollutants entering the lower Yarra.

Floods

Positioned on a natural watercourse, Elizabeth Street has channeled flood waters during flash flooding south towards the Yarra River, in 1882, 1972 and more recently 2010 during the 2010 Victorian storms.

Transport

Little Collins Street and Elizabeth Street Intersection

As well as Flinders Street station at the southern end, there is a train station on the City Loop at the Melbourne Central shopping centre (the entrance is near the corner of Latrobe and Elizabeth), and regular route 19 trams to Coburg North, route 59 trams to Airport West and route 57 trams to West Maribyrnong.

Commerce

As might be expected, there are a large number of retail shops on Elizabeth Street. As well as the Melbourne Central shopping centre, Elizabeth Street is home to a number of photography retailers, and a considerable number of motorcycle dealers. The street has been the home of motorcycle retailing in inner Melbourne since 1903, the longest-existing such area in the world.

St Francis Church

The St Francis Church, which is a Catholic church is situated at the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale streets. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

External links

Media related to Elizabeth Street at Wikimedia Commons

• Elizabeth Street in flood, 1882
• Elizabeth Street flood, 1972