Barrack Street

Barrack Street
Western Australia
Photograph of road and city buildings
View south down Barrack Street, from the corner of Murray Street
General information
Type Road
Length 0.75 km (0.47 mi)[1]
Opened c.1830s
Route number(s) State Route 53
Major junctions
South end Riverside Drive (State Route 5)
 
North end
Location(s)
LGA(s) City of Perth
Major suburbs Perth

Barrack Street is one of two major cross-streets in the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. Together with St Georges Terrace, Wellington Street and William Street it defines the boundary of the main shopping precinct of the central city.

Route description

Looking down towards the Swan Bells on Barrack Street

Barrack Street commences at Barrack Street Jetty, and the adjacent Barrack Square. Moving in an uphill direction away from the Swan River, it passes alongside the Supreme Court Gardens and the Stirling Gardens. Crossing St Georges Terrace, Barrack Street then passes alongside the heritage-listed State Treasury Building and the Perth Town Hall. The town hall location was regularly utilised for special occasions – the Centenary of Western Australia celebrations in 1929, and the Royal Visit in 1901 [2]

Commercial buildings on the opposite side of the street give way to small retail businesses on both sides between Hay Street and Wellington Street.

The street terminates at Wellington Street continuing as Beaufort Street on and over the Barrack Street Bridge which crosses the Midland and Armadale railway lines. The Barrack Street Bridge was constructed in 1894.

History

Traffic along a block of Barrack Street, Perth, Western Australia in 1929

Barrack Street existed as a named road as early as 1833.[3] It was named for the military barracks that existed along the alignment, at the corner of St Georges Terrace, in 1829.[4][5] Construction of the barracks began on 13 August 1829, the day after Governor Stirling declared the foundation of the town of Perth. Soon afterwards, the soldiers' quarters were established, along an alignment that formed the street.[5]

The section between Murray Street and Wellington Street saw a minor urban renewal with Barrack Plaza officially opening on 12 July 2006.[6]

Major intersections

Barrack Street intersects all the major east-west routes in the Perth CBD. It is the northbound route of State Route 53 through the CBD. William Street, one block over to the west, carries the route southbound.[1]

See also

Notes

Route map: Bing

  1. 1.0 1.1 Google (21 August 2013). "Barrack Street". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  2. Decorative arch erected for the July 1901 royal visit of the Duke and Duchess of York.see http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12285938?q=Barrack+Street+Perth&c=picture
  3. "QUARTER SESSIONS.". The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (WA: National Library of Australia). 5 October 1833. p. 158. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  4. "Origins Of Street Names In Perth" (PDF). Western Australian Land Information Authority. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "PERTH NAMES.". The West Australian (Perth: National Library of Australia). 18 February 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  6. http://www.medina.com.au Medina Apartment Hotels