| Queen Street, Auckland |
Article Index for Queen Street |
Shopping Auckland |
Website Links For Queen |
Information AboutQueen Street, Auckland |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT QUEEN STREET, AUCKLAND | |
| streets in auckland | |
| visitor attractions in auckland | |
|
Queen Street, Auckland , New Zealand , is the major commercial thoroughfare of the country's main population centre. It rises from the waterfront, close to the terminal of the Devonport ferry, and extends uphill for almost three kilometres in a south-southwesterly direction towards the residential hill suburbs in the middle of the Isthmus . Named after Queen Victoria, Queen Street was an early development of the new town of Auckland (founded in 1840) although initially the main street was intended to be Shortland Street. Its early route led up the middle of a gully following the bank of the local stream (the Horotiu stream or Queen Street River), and this is why the course of lower Queen Street still slightly twists and turns to this day. Long bricked over into a storm water drain, the Queen Street River still discharges into the Waitamata Harbour beneath the Ferry Building. It is known by repute all over the country, even by people who have never seen it. It gives its name to one of the most pricey squares in the New Zealand version of "". The main commercial district of the street is in the first 1500 metres, immediately south of the waterfront. Beyond this lies the midtown district centred around Aotea Square . Here are located the Civic Theatre (1929), Art Gallery (1883), Town Hall (1911), Aotea Centre (1979) and Council Administration Block (1966). Further up Queen Street beyond Mayoral Drive is the uptown district, centred on Myers Park. Beyond the Karangahape Road ridge the southernmost 500 metres of the street is officially known as Upper Queen Street. Upper Queen Street crosses the largest interchange on the New Zealand State Highway Network , known as "Spaghetti Junction" (after its British Equivalent Near Birmingham ) which is the junction of State Highways 1 and 16, before terminating at Newton Road. The street was immortalised in song by The Front Lawn with their song ''(It started on) Queen Street''. There are several other 'Queen Streets' in the greater Auckland area, mostly in suburbs which were once separate towns before being swallowed by urban sprawl. EXTERNAL LINKS ` |
|
|