William Street, Sydney

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William Street is a major thoroughfare in Sydney, Australia. It runs from Kings Cross to Hyde Park where it turns into Park Street. The street forms the border between the two suburbs of Woolloomooloo and Darlinghurst. Today the newly completed Cross City Tunnel follows much of the route of William Street. It was constructed in an attempt to ease traffic congestion in the CBD.

[edit] History

The street was built through the farm land of the valley between the city centre and Potts Point in the 1840's to allow traffic to and from the fashionable and expensive Eastern suburbs around Elizabeth Bay. Originally the NSW Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell wanted the street to be further to the south, but whilst he was away exploring the interior of Australia, the street was constructed in its now location.

In the 1880's notable Australian poet Henry Lawson lived in a boarding house along William Street before he became famous for his poetry. In 1909 it was decided to resume the south side of the street to widen the street into a more larger boulevard style. The resuming was conducted between 1910 and 1914.