Following on from this morning’s post on some of the central city Victorian streets I thought a little look back would be useful; so here is Vulcan Lane just before the City Council bravely excluded cars from it in 1968, as a result of a campaign by retailers in the area keen to improve its appeal as a shopping destination. Coming up for 50 years ago!
From the Sir George Grey Special Collections at the Auckland Library. There’s also this excellent blog post with more images and further history including how it got its very cool name. Tracking the story of the street is to follow fashions in street design through the 20th century. In the 20s there were calls for widening, then one-waying, and finally in 1964 27 retailers petitioned the Council to close it to traffic. $13,000 was voted for this in 1967:
Plenty of ‘foremen’ on the job.
Even further back; upper Vulcan Lane in 1919, a lovely sterograph image [hauntingly like a De Chirco painting]:
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1968!
Surely the time has come to complete the cbd pedestrian network!
“a campaign by retailers in the area keen to improve its appeal as a shopping destination. Coming up for 50 years ago!”
What a contrast with the numpty retail neighbours who are resisting the same for High St. Maybe they should take some tips from their grandparents.
The fools, the area is obviously in need of a flyover.
Aha! So that is where all the concrete ordered for Reeves Road is headed then…
nice photos