Hay Street is a major road through the

Perth central business district Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and adjacent suburbs. The street was named after Robert Hay, the Permanent Under Secretary for Colonies. Sections of the road were called Howick Street and Twiss Street until 1897. One block in the central business section is now a pedestrian mall with extremely limited vehicular traffic, so that it is necessary to make a significant detour in order to drive the entire length of Hay Street.

Route description

Orientated east-west, the road starts at The Causeway travelling west through the suburbs of

East Perth East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, West Perth, and Subiaco, where the road originally terminated at Subiaco. Unusually, the street numbers reset to 1 when Hay Street crosses Thomas Street and enters Subiaco. A subway under the

Fremantle railway line The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle. History The railway on which the service runs opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban rai ...

was constructed in the early 1900s, replaced when the railway line was moved underground through Subiaco in 1999. From that point it becomes Underwood Avenue through Jolimont, Floreat (past Perry Lakes) and ends in

Swanbourne Swanbourne is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Winslow and three miles (4.8 km) west of Stewkley. History The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and may mean "swan stream". It was recorded ...

Buildings

A number of buildings are along the road, including: * Gledden Building * His Majesty's Theatre * London Court * Melbourne Hotel * Perth Town Hall * City of Perth Library * Carillon City * Piccadilly Theatre and Arcade * Plaza Theatre * QV1 * Regal Theatre * Ross Memorial Church * St Georges Hall * Subiaco Hotel * Walsh's Building

History

In 2024, the

City of Perth The City of Perth is a local government areas of Western Australia, local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. T ...

commenced work on converting Hay Street back to a two-way street between Bennett Street and Victoria Avenue.

Pedestrian mall

The Hay Street pedestrian mall was the earliest conversion from street to mall in Perth, introduced in 1972, despite the road being a major thoroughfare. Through traffic was initially diverted to either Murray Street or

St Georges Terrace St Georges Terrace (colloquially known as "The Terrace") is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial thoroughfare through the central business district. Its ...

Cathedral Square

Hay Street between

Pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

and

Barrack Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

streets defines the northern boundary of a block, that has evolved in name from the ''Cathedral precinct'' to ''Cathedral Square'', in which the Perth Town Hall, and the City of Perth Library are situated on the Hay Street side of the square.

Major intersections

In popular culture

A photograph of the Hay Street pedestrian mall taken in the early 1980s was used as the cover art for Perth-based psychedelic rock band

Pond's Pond's is an English brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever. History Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...

2017 album The Weather.

Notes

References

External links

*Photographs of Hay Street a
State Library of Western Australia
, an
Flickr
{{Perth CBD Streets Streets in Perth central business district, Western Australia Streets in West Perth, Western Australia Subiaco, Western Australia Pedestrian malls in Australia