HK Wan Chai Platform view Gloucester Road

Gloucester Road () () is a major

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. It is one of the few major roads in Hong Kong with

service roads A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

. It was named on 14 June 1929 after

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...

, to commemorate his visit to Hong Kong that year. The road is 2.2 kilometres in length and has a speed limit of 70 km/h.

Location

Gloucester Road is in the north of

Wan Chai Wan Chai is situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to th ...

and

East Point East Point is the name of several places: In Australia * East Point, Northern Territory ** East Point Military museum located in East Point, Northern Territory In Canada *East Point, Prince Edward Island In Hong Kong: *East Point, Hong Kong In ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

. It connects to Harcourt Road at its western end and in the east along the west side of

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

it spit-ends into both Causeway Road and the Tai Hang Road flyover. It formed part of Hong Kong's Route 4 and connects to the

Island Eastern Corridor The Island Eastern Corridor (IEC) is an expressway built along the northeastern shore of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It starts from Causeway Bay in the west and ends in Chai Wan in the east. It is mostly part of Route 4. The section betwe ...

via Victoria Park Road before completion of Central–Wan Chai Bypass. The road is connected to the

Cross-Harbour Tunnel The Cross-Harbour Tunnel (abbreviated ''CHT'' or ''XHT'') is the first tunnel in Hong Kong built underwater. It consists of two steel road tunnels each with two lanes constructed using the single shell immersed tube method. It is the earl ...

near the Canal Road Flyover. It runs almost parallel to Lockhart Road.

History

The road was built between 1922 and 1929 by reclamation as a two-lane road on the seafront. It then only connected the Royal Naval Arsenal Yard in

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

and

Percival Street Percival Street is a street in the East Point and Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The street spans from Gloucester Road in the north to Leighton Road in the south. Between Hennessy Road and Leighton Road, the street is with a bra ...

Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is list of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong, an area and Victoria Park, Hong Kong, a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern and the Wan Chai District, Wan Chai ...

. It was extended to Cleveland Street after World War II. A canal west of Victoria Park Road is also reclaimed to form part of Gloucester Road. The completion of

Aberdeen Tunnel Aberdeen Tunnel, part of Route 1, is a two-tube tunnel linking Happy Valley and Wong Chuk Hang near Aberdeen on the Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It shortens the travel time between Wong Chuk Hang and Causeway Bay of the Hong Kong Island. ...

and other major thoroughfares around it increased traffic output, and thus a new road adjoined to Gloucester Road was built in the 1960s and opened in 1972, which was named "Waterfront Road"(海傍大道). The original Gloucester Road was then converted to one sided traffic heading westbound only. A number of flyovers was built. In 1980, the two roads was unified under the same name of Gloucester Road. The original Gloucester Road has been since known as "Inner Gloucester Road" or "Gloucester Road service road".

Travelling time

Vehicles traveling on Gloucester Road can choose two separate routes:

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Tin Hau, Hong Kong, Causeway Bay and Tsat Ts ...

and

. During peak hours, the average time required to travel to

Western Kowloon West Kowloon () is the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District and Sham Shui Po District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, and Jordan ...

is 5-8 minutes; the average time required to travel to North Point is 15-20 minutes.

Landmarks

* The

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) (Chinese: 香港演藝學院) is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, the main campus also functions as a venue for pe ...

, main campus (No. 1-3) *

Revenue Tower The Revenue Tower is a skyscraper located in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The tower rises 49 floors and in height. The building was completed in 1990. The Revenue Tower, which stands as the 93rd-tallest building in Hong Kong, is composed entirely o ...

(No. 7-9) * Telecom House (No. 4-6) *

Immigration Tower Immigration Tower is a skyscraper located in the Wan Chai District of Hong Kong completed in 1990. The tower rises 49 floors and in height. Immigration Tower, which stands as the 93rd-tallest building in Hong Kong, is composed entirely of of ...

(No. 13-15) * Wan Chai Tower (No. 10-12) * Luk Kwok Hotel (No. 70-72) * Wanchai Meetinghouse of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(No.118) * Old Wan Chai Police Station, built in 1932, a Grade II Historic Building (No. 123)List of the Historic Buildings in Building Assessment (as of 23 November 2011)
*

Wan Chai Sports Ground Wan Chai Sports Ground () is a stadium in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, with a seating capacity of 2,401. It is a government-run sports ground primarily used by local schools for sports days and other athletic activities. Situate ...

* The Gloucester (No. 211-216) *

Sino Plaza Sino Plaza is a skyscraper located in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong. The tower rises 38 floors A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern t ...

(Nos. 256-258) * Elizabeth House (No. 241-255) * World Trade Centre (No. 277-279) * Police Officer Club (No. 259-261) *

The Excelsior The Excelsior () was a four-star hotel located at 281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It was owned and operated by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, and served as the Manda ...

hotel (No. 280-282) * Windsor House (No. 313-315) *

Noonday Gun The ''Noonday'' ''Gun'' () is a former naval artillery piece mounted on a small enclosed site near the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Owned and operated by Jardine Matheson, the gun is fired every day at noon a ...

, across the road from the Excelsior * China Resource Building *

Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter is a typhoon shelter located in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, between the Hong Kong Island entrance of Cross-Harbour Tunnel on Kellett Island and Island Eastern Corridor. It was the first typhoon shelter in Hong Kong. It is ...

* Central Plaza (No. 16-18) * Pico Tower (No. 64-66) * Sun Hung Kai Centre (No. 25-27) * Lamborghini Hong Kong Showroom (No. 66)

References

External links

Google Maps of Gloucester Road
{{Coord, 22.27943, 114.17519, format=dms, display=title Former Part of Route 4 (Hong Kong) Causeway Bay Wan Chai Roads on Hong Kong Island