Melbourne & Australian Architecture Topics

I suppose most of us are familiar with the St Kilda Junction intersection and the enormous amount of traffic which funnels through this area - here's a few photographs giving a quick overview of the history of the junction.

Here it is in much earlier days, around 1870:



The beautiful hotel which stood at the junction for many years appears in this photograph dated to the 1880's. Though the development of the junction are was undoubtably necessary it is still a shame that something as lovely as this had to sacrificed:



Here's the extraordinary arch which was erected at the junction on the occasion of the royal visit upon Australia's federation in 1901:



Here's a view taken from the tower of the junction hotel, dated to around 1890's:



- and here's another:



A couple of shots from the 1950's - it's starting to look a little tacky:





Redevelopment of the junction area commenced in 1966 - here's the plans of the proposed alterations:



Here's an overview of the area in question taken in 1966:



Here's a shot of some of the demolition of houses etc which was necessary in the redevelopment:



Here's another of the work in progress, the old Junction hotel clings to an island:



- and here's a map that was produced to show motorists how to follow the new traffic layout. Simple isn't it...



And finally here are some photos of the junction taken in the 1990's:

Thank you, JvDA, I thought this was exceptionally interesting. I hadn't realised that the trams used to run along Wellington St, or how much was demolished to make the new construction.
Certainly the whole place would have been a schmozzle if the changes hadn't been done, but it is a shame that so much was lost in the process.

Above and below, St Kilda Junction well before demolition of the southern side of High Street and name-change to St Kilda Road.

That second photo is a ripper.

I wasn't around to see it before this, but they completely destroyed the area IMO.

The highways effectively split St Kilda from St Kilda west an Windsor, and make the whole area very unfriendly for pedestrians.

Something similar was proposed for Punt Road and Bridge Road.

I hope that this sort of urban vandalism for the sake of cars doesn't happen again in my lifetime.

I'd hope to see the reverse happen, the highways reclaimed. It is interesting that in Brisbane, they started calling for the removal of the riverside expressway less than a decade after it had been built.

One I'd love to see removed of "highway" status is Beaconsfield Parade. I hate how one of our most beautiful boulevards is ruined by traffic. It is disappointing that the recent proposals for pedestrian and tram improvements were knocked back by council.

Are you really serious WP or are you just taking the piss? Sure it was a shame to lose that area, but the simple fact of the matter is that cars and trucks need to be funnelled in and out of Melbourne on a daily basis as quickly as possible....it's just how society functions. I know you don't like cars but even to suggest that the junction be ripe for reclimation is ridiculous And no amount of public transport improvements would remove the need for that underpass.