Dudley Street is a main street in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, linking the northern Docklands district to the north-western corner of the

Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (also known colloquially as simply "The City" or "The CBD") is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city lai ...

. Dudley Street is possibly named after the Governor General from 1908 to 1911, the Second Earl of Dudley, William Humble Ward.

Route

Dudley Street begins at Footscray Road and heads east as a six-lane, dual-carriageway road, nearly immediately intersecting with

Wurundjeri Way Wurundjeri Way is a road running through the Docklands Development west of the Melbourne central business district. It was constructed in 1999 as part of replanning and development of the former Melbourne rail yards and docks. Wurundjeri Way r ...

and then under the North Melbourne rail lines, and continues east as a four-lane, single-carriageway road, crossing Spencer and King Streets, and ends at the intersection with Peel Street in the

, on the western border of the Queen Victoria Market. At its western end, the Depression-era slum camp known as

Dudley Flats Dudley Flats was a locality in Melbourne, Australia, in the 1920s–1950s, which supported a homeless camp during the Great Depression. Location It was located near the Melbourne docks beyond Dudley Street, south of Footscray Road, and on ...

was occupied by unemployed and homeless people in the 1930s. Its most famous landmark is the concert venue, Festival Hall.The original Festival Hall (West Melbourne Stadium)?
/ref>

History

The western end of Dudley Street underwent major reconstruction, which included lowering of the outer lanes to provide a clearance of 5 metres under the existing rail bridges, a new intersection at Wurundjeri Way and a remodelled intersection at Footscray Road; work commenced in April 1999 and was completed in November 2000. The road was signed Metropolitan Route 32 in 1965, from Footscray Road, before turning south to run along Adderley Street and Latrobe Street to meet Victoria Parade in

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

. It was re-routed to run further west, turning north and west along Peel and Victoria Streets to Carlton instead, in 1989. National Route 31 was extended along Dudley Street from Peel Street when the

West Gate Freeway The West Gate Freeway is a major freeway in Melbourne, the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in Australia, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links Geelong (via the Princes Freeway) and Melbourne's western suburbs to ...

extension opened in 1988; this was truncated back to

when it opened in 1999, and was replaced by Metropolitan Route 55 when the

Craigieburn bypass Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route f ...

opened in 2005. The passing of the ''Road Management Act 2004'' granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a ...

: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Dudley Street (Arterial #5040), beginning at Footscray Road at Docklands and ending at Peel Street in the

Intersections

Dudley Street is entirely contained within the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

References

Streets in Melbourne Transport in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Streets in Melbourne City Centre {{Australia-road-stub