Hoddle Highway
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2013) |
Hoddle Highway Also known as Hoddle Street, Punt Road and Barkly Street. | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 14 km (8.7 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  High Street (State Route 29), Clifton Hill, Melbourne |
| |
| South end |  Marine Parade (State Route 33), Elwood, Melbourne |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Collingwood, Abbotsford, Richmond, South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St. Kilda |
| Highway system | |
Hoddle Highway is an urban highway in Melbourne linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway, and allotted metropolitan route 29. The name "Hoddle Highway" is unknown to most drivers, who refer instead to its constituent parts: Hoddle Street and Punt Road. The highway is named after the surveyor Robert Hoddle, who planned central Melbourne's Hoddle Grid.
The highway starts at the Eastern Freeway in Fitzroy and heads directly southwards until reaching Citylink in Richmond, near the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and then continues across the Yarra River and down to the Nepean and Princes Highways, at St Kilda Junction.
The highway is frequently clogged with traffic, particularly during peak hour and during sport events, because it passes through Melbourne's inner suburbs and the city's main sporting and events precinct. The frequently congested four-lane undivided road continues through the South Yarra district before heading further south into Barkly Street, which runs through the St. Kilda city centre, and terminates at Marine Parade.
Hoddle Street
Hoddle Street, the major component of the Hoddle Highway, varies from an undivided arterial road with two lanes running each way, to a three or four-lane dual carriageway. It runs 3.5 km north-south from Clifton Hill to Richmond where it becomes Punt Road, which continues south through Windsor, and then, as Barkly Street, through St. Kilda and Elwood. North of Clifton Hill, the line of Hoddle Street continues as High Street, through the suburbs of Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Reservoir and Thomastown.
This section connects the Eastern Freeway and Punt Road to other arterial roads that feed into the Melbourne CBD.
Hoddle Street Massacre
In 1987, Hoddle Street was the site of a deadly shooting spree known as the Hoddle Street massacre. The perpetrator, 19-year-old Julian Knight, killed seven people and injured 19 others during his rampage. He is currently serving seven consecutive terms of life imprisonment.[1]
The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan
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.
References
- ^ Murphy, Padraic (9 May 2013). "Hoddle St killer Julian Knight seeks aid for release bid". Herald Sun. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
