Hoddle Highway

Hoddle Highway is an urban highway in Melbourne linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway, itself a sub-section of Hoddle Main Road. Both these names are not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts: Hoddle Street, Punt Road and Barkly Street. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion.

The highway is named after the surveyor Robert Hoddle, who planned central Melbourne's Hoddle Grid.

Route
Hoddle Main Road starts at the intersection with Queens Parade and High Street in Fitzroy North and heads south as Hoddle Street, crossing Eastern Freeway one kilometre later (and from where the Hoddle Highway declaration officially starts). It continues south until the intersection with Wellington Parade and Bridge Road, changing name to Punt Road. It continues south, passing near the Melbourne Cricket Ground, under Citylink in Richmond, across the Yarra River via the Hoddle Bridge through the South Yarra district to where St Kilda Road and Dandenong Road meet at St Kilda Junction (where the highway declaration ends). Hoddle Main Road continues south on the other side of St Kilda Junction as Barkly Street through the St Kilda city centre, to eventually terminate at Marine Parade in Elwood.

History
The elimination of the railway crossing at the Clifton Hill railway gates, where Heidelberg-Eltham Road (known today as Heidelberg Road) crossed the Hurstbridge and Whittlesea (now Mernda) railway lines and then Hoddle Street, was approved by the Victorian government on 19 May 1955, instructing the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) to proceed with the construction of a road overpass. The Board contracted the project to Lewis Construction Co. Pty. Ltd., estimated to cost A£240,000. Work commenced in February 1956, with the southern portion open to traffic in April 1957, and the remaining sections, including the ramps leading to and from Hoddle Street, opening several weeks later in May 1957.

The passing of the Country Roads Act of 1958 (itself an evolution from the original Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924 ) provided for the declaration of State Highways and Main Roads, roads partially financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads). Hoddle Main Road was declared a Main Road on 7 September 1960, from Queens Parade in Fitzroy North, along Hoddle Street through Richmond, along Punt Road through South Yarra, and along Barkly Street to Elwood.

Hoddle Main Road (including all its constituent roads) was signed as Metropolitan Route 29 between Fitzroy North and Elwood in 1965.

The passing of the Transport Act of 1983 updated the definition of State Highways. Hoddle Highway was declared a State Highway by VicRoads in September 1994 within Hoddle Main Road, from Victoria Street in Richmond to the St Kilda Junction in St Kilda, later extended north to the interchange with Eastern Freeway in January 1995; all roads were known (and signposted) as their constituent parts.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Hoddle Highway (Arterial #6080), beginning at the interchange of Hoddle Street with Eastern Freeway at Clifton Hill and ending at St Kilda Road (Nepean Highway) in St Kilda, while re-declaring the remnants between Clifton Hill and Elwood as Hoddle Main Road (Arterial #5880); as before, all roads are still known (and signposted) as their constituent parts.

1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan
The Hoddle Street – Punt Road – Barkly Street corridor was designated in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F2 Freeway. Part of the F2 Freeway would have connected St Kilda Junction to the Metropolitan Ring Road at the Hume Freeway (Craigieburn Bypass), via the Hoddle Highway and Merri Creek.

Hoddle Street Massacre
In 1987, Hoddle Street was the site of a deadly shooting spree known as the Hoddle Street massacre. The perpetrator, 19-year-old army recruit Julian Knight, killed seven people and injured 19 others during his rampage. He is currently serving seven consecutive terms of life imprisonment.