Swanston Street
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Swanston Street Victoria |
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|---|---|
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| Swanston Street near City Square | |
| Coordinates | 37°48′21″S 144°57′47″E / 37.8058865°S 144.96310360000007°ECoordinates: 37°48′21″S 144°57′47″E / 37.8058865°S 144.96310360000007°E |
| Type | Street |
| Opened | 1837 |
| North end | College Crescent |
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Elgin Street Queensberry Street Victoria Street Franklin Street La Trobe Street Lonsdale Street Bourke Street Collins Street |
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| South end | Flinders Street |
| Suburb(s) | Melbourne, Carlton, Parkville |
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne CBD and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the world's busiest tram corridor, for its heritage buildings and as a shopping strip.
Swanston Street runs roughly north-south in-between Russell Street to the east and Elizabeth Street to the west. To the south it becomes St Kilda Road after the intersection with Flinders Street, whilst the road's northern end is in the suburb of Carlton at Melbourne Cemetery. This northern section was originally named Madeline Street.
Swanston Street was one of the main north–south streets originally laid out in the 1837 Hoddle Grid. Originally carrying pedestrians and horse-drawn cart traffic, the street resembled many typical European avenues of the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century it was carrying one of the major tram lines through the city. With the advent of the automobile in the early 20th century, the street became a major thoroughfare, carrying automobile traffic between areas north of the city and St Kilda Road throughout most of the 20th century.
The southern half of the street historically had problems with heavy traffic and carbon monoxide pollution, homelessness and loitering, and a plethora of discount stores, fast food outlets, sex shops and strip joints, throughout the later half of the 20th century.
In the 1990s the street was closed to daytime private through-traffic between Flinders and La Trobe Streets, roughly half its length. This section is known as Swanston Street Walk. Swanston Street was redeveloped in 1992 with a number of public sculptures being established through the Percent for Art Program. The most famous of these statues is of a small bronze dog called Larry La Trobe by Melbourne artist, Pamela Irving. By the turn of the 21st century, the street carried nine tram routes, with the frequency of trams being the highest in Melbourne.
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Wikipedia