Queen Street, Auckland


Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs increasingly more steeply uphill for almost three kilometres in a mostly straight south-southwesterly direction towards the Karangahape Road ridge, and the residential suburbs in the interior of the Auckland isthmus.

Geography

Named after Queen Victoria, Queen Street was an early development of the new town of Auckland, although initially the main street was intended to be Shortland Street, running parallel to the shore of Commercial Bay. The early route of Queen Street led up the middle of a gully following the bank of the Waihorotiu Stream. This canal was culverted beneath the street from the 1870s onward, allowing for further development of the street to be undertaken. The course of the stream is still reflected today in the slight bend of lower Queen Street. From north of Shortland Street, Queen Street is built on land reclaimed from the sea in the late 19th century.
There are several other 'Queen Streets' in the greater Auckland area, mostly in suburbs that were separate towns before being absorbed by a growing central city. Auckland was also called the "Queen City" since before the turn of the 20th century, though that term is now overshadowed by the nickname "City of Sails".

Demographics

The statistical areas of Queen Street, which covers a full block either side of Queen Street north of Wellesley Street, and Queen Street South West, which covers the area west of Queen Street to Vincent Street and Pitt Street south of Wellesley Street, had a population of 3,807 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 639 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,527 people since the 2006 census. There were 1,860 households. There were 2,076 males and 1,725 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.2 males per female, with 123 people aged under 15 years, 1,851 aged 15 to 29, 1,626 aged 30 to 64, and 204 aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 46.3% European/Pākehā, 5.0% Māori, 2.8% Pacific peoples, 41.4% Asian, and 9.9% other ethnicities.
The proportion of people born overseas was 73.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 54.5% had no religion, 27.0% were Christian, and 14.4% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,329 people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 162 people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,953 people were employed full-time, 630 were part-time, and 204 were unemployed.

History

Street, Stream and Canal

Settlement in the Queen Street area began in 1841 with a number of wooden buildings along the western side, following the general path of the Waihorotiu Stream according to the plans set out by surveyor Felton Mathew. While the street was metalled in 1843, the natural stream still often overflowed its banks, and the area was still swampy. This led to canalisation and later covering-over of the stream.

Mainstreet of Auckland

After a fire in 1858 destroyed around 50 buildings in High Street and Shortland Street, the commercial district began to shift towards Queen Street instead, and the first brick and plaster buildings of the 1860s started to cement this move, with the Bank of New Zealand building being one of the first examples. Fires however still continued to plague the new town, with one in 1873 wiping out another 54 buildings in the Queen Street area between Wellesley Street West and Grey Street. The fires, amongst other things, led to the establishment of the Auckland Volunteer Fire Service.
In the 1880s, the first horse-drawn buses began connecting Queen Street with areas such as Ponsonby Road and Remuera. In 1900, the first motorcar was admired on the street, and in 1902 the street was finally asphalted, the first street in New Zealand. The same year the first electric trams also arrived, to provide services until 1956.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a large number of imposing buildings constructed, such as the Smith & Caughey's building, the Auckland Town Hall and the General Post Office at the waterfront, later to become the Britomart Transport Centre. By that time, the street was popular for events such as parades and festivities, as well as for political activities such as the strike demonstrations of 1913. The Queen Street riots broke out in the adjacent Aotea Square in late 1984. During the second half of the 20th century, many of the older buildings on Queen Street were demolished to make space for larger office buildings.

Character

Queen Street is known by reputation all over the country, even by people who have never seen it. It gives its name to the most expensive square in the New Zealand version of Monopoly and to a somewhat disrespectful description of business people with rural investment interests : 'Queen Street farmers'. The street was immortalised by The Front Lawn with their song Queen Street.
The street has been the site of numerous parades, marches and other events of political, cultural or sporting nature. Together with adjacent High Street, it is the main retail precinct of the central city, with most national store, bank and restaurant franchises having a branch on the street. Several important other local businesses, such as the Smith & Caughey's department store, have flagship branches here.
The street sees very high pedestrian numbers, estimated by some as up to 10 times as high as on Broadway in Newmarket, seen as Queen Street's closest shopping street rival in Auckland.

Transport and foot traffic

Prior to a 2006–2008 street upgrade, Council figures showed that over 50,000 pedestrians, 40,000 public transport users and 20,000 people in private vehicles used Queen Street daily. The Council anticipated that the private car share would drop by around 15%. An editorial of The New Zealand Herald accused Council of using overestimated public transport user numbers for political purposes to support its bus lane plans.

Former tram network

Until December 1956, trams provided public transport along Queen Street, and it was the only street in New Zealand with grand unions, double-track to double-track junctions, where trams could go to all directions from all directions. These junctions were at the intersections with Customs Street and Wellesley Street. Since the closure of Auckland's tram network, Balaclava Junction on Melbourne's tram network has been the sole grand union left in the Southern Hemisphere.

2006—2008 upgrade

Public perception in the early 2000s was that Queen Street had lost some of its good reputation in the previous decades, with a rundown and uncoordinated streetscape and the loss of several prestigious retailers cited as either causes or effects. Auckland City Council decided to address the issue of the 'tired' Queen Street through a major redevelopment of the street.
This involved the widening and relaying of footpaths with basalt kerbstones and paving. Granite insets, designed in consultation with the local Māori, as well as recycled redchip pavers from the existing footpath, were used to denote special areas – such as those related to the existence of the old Waihorotiu Stream. New street furniture and new trees and other landscaping were added to create a 'boulevard effect'. The liquid ambers and Nikau Palms chosen for the new design touched off heated public discussion in 2006 as their inclusion came at the destruction of previous, established trees.
The 2006–2008 project repeatedly increased in cost, from NZ$23 million to around NZ$43.5 million, with some aspects falling victim to the blowout. While Council noted in June 2007 that progress had often been quicker than expected, the cost overruns, and the long duration of the construction works – which substantially affected pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic as well as retail sales – made the upgrade unpopular in public, at least during the duration. It also became a problem issue for Dick Hubbard in his failed campaign for re-election to Mayor of Auckland in 2007.
The upgrade is now considered to have generally been a success, and it won the 2009 Urban Design Award of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, which commended it for creating a quality public realm and sense of place.

Upgrade priorities

To accommodate construction work, Auckland City Council reduced traffic lanes for vehicles to one lane in each direction in early 2007. A proposal was made for this to become permanent, with extended public transport provisions such as bus lanes and cycle lanes proposed for the outer lanes. Also proposed was a 30 km/h speed limit. Committee discussions and public consultation resulted in four physical lanes being retained, mainly to safeguard the street layout for future public transport options such as light rail.
The changes included further improvements to pedestrian facilities, with the total footpath area increasing by 20% to almost 14,000 m², and longer traffic signal phases for pedestrians, while three new signalised pedestrian crossings were introduced mid-block, at accident 'black spots'. Also undertaken was a reduction of on-street parking spaces from 81 to 51, part of the prioritisation for pedestrians. The remaining spaces became dedicated short-term parking. Not included in the design were dedicated bus bays, noted as a serious oversight by some critics, causing potential delays on the proposed bus lanes.

Buildings and attractions

At the northern end of Queen Street are several significant buildings. These include:
Between Customs Street and Wellesley Street, Queen Street is lined with retail and office buildings. This section of the street is where the majority of the high-rise buildings are located. These are mostly 20th century in origin, although a number of 19th century structures survive. Many large corporations, insurance companies and banks had substantial buildings on Queen Street and in some cases their head offices were located here rather than in Wellington. The most significant buildings along the middle part of the street are the:
Beyond the Wellesley Street intersection lies the midtown district, with its entertainment and civic focus, centred on Aotea Square. Here are located most of the important civic buildings, including the:
Further up Queen Street beyond Mayoral Drive is the uptown district, centred on Myers Park. This is often referred to as Upper Queen Street, although that name actually refers to a separate continuation of Queen Street on the other side of the K'Road ridge. The most significant buildings in this area are the:
Beyond the Karangahape Road ridge the southernmost 500 metres of the street is called Upper Queen Street, and it crosses the eastern part of the Central Motorway Junction, the largest interchange on the New Zealand state highway network.