HK Wan Chai Platform view Gloucester Road

Gloucester Road ( ; ) is a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. It is one of the few major roads in Hong Kong with service roads. 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 a member of the British royal family. He was the third son of King George V and Mary of Teck, Queen Mary, and was a younger brother of kings E ...

, 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 (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...

and East Point on

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

. It connects to Harcourt Road at its western end and in the east along the west side of Victoria Park 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 via Victoria Park Road before completion of Central–Wan Chai Bypass. The road is connected to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel 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 and Percival Street in

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 Cross-Harbour Tunnel, Aberdeen Tunnel 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 Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects ...

and Cross-Harbour Tunnel. During peak hours, the average time required to travel to Western Kowloon 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) 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 performances. Béthanie (Hong Ko ...

, main campus (No. 1-3) * Revenue Tower (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 Storey, floors and in height. Immigration Tower, which stands as the 93rd-tallest building in Hong Kong, is composed entire ...

(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 Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and 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 * The Gloucester (No. 211-216) * Sino Plaza (Nos. 256-258) * Elizabeth House (No. 241-255) * World Trade Centre (No. 277-279) * Police Officer Club (No. 259-261) * The Excelsior hotel (No. 280-282) * Windsor House (No. 313-315) * Noonday Gun, across the road from the Excelsior * China Resource Building * Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter * 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