Chandler Highway
|
Chandler Highway Victoria |
|
|---|---|
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 1.4 km (0.9 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
 State Route 21 |
| Tourist routes |
 Tourist Drive 2 |
| North end |
 Heidelberg Road (State Route 46 / Tourist Drive 2), Alphington, Melbourne
|
 Eastern Freeway (M3)
|
|
| South end |
Princess Street (State Route 21), Kew, Melbourne
|
Chandler Highway is a short road in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It runs from Heidelberg Road in Alphington, across the Yarra River, using a narrow two-lane bridge over the Yarra River, then continues across the Eastern Freeway, then terminates at an intersection with Princess Street and Earl Street. Its total length is less than 2 kilometres, leading to its claim as "the shortest highway in the world". For a city of its size, the Chandler Highway is one of very few river crossings in Melbourne.
The Yarra River bridge was originally completed in 1891 as part of the Outer Circle railway line, that ran from Fairfield station to East Camberwell station, and then south along the Alamein line to Oakleigh. The section of railway occupied by the highway closed in 1893, the rail remaining on it until at least 1919, with the viaduct was widened in the 1950s. Despite the closure of the Outer Circle, from 1919 the Heidelberg Road - Chandler Highway intersection in Fairfield had a single railway line running though the middle of it, servicing the Australian Paper Manufacturers factory railway siding until it was removed in the mid-1990s.
The Chandler Highway was originally planned to continue east along the former rail corridor to where Earl, Asquith and Valerie Streets intersect. The highway was to end at High Street in East Kew, and although the route is still listed as a 'proposed arterial' in recent editions of the Melway street directory, the reserve has been landscaped. At the diamond interchange with the Eastern Freeway, there are visible pavements reserved for smooth (elevated) entry/ exit ramps to be constructed. These proposals are illustrated in the early eighties editions of the Melway directory, but are unlikely to be built.
Some or all of Chandler Highway was renamed from Fulham Road.
The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan shows the Chandler Highway as part of the F6 Freeway corridor which would eventually link up to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway.
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Wikipedia