The Hoddle Grid is the layout of the streets

Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

 in the centre of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. Named after its designer, Robert Hoddle

Robert Hoddle

Robert Hoddle was a surveyor of Port Phillip in the 1830s, and the creator of the Hoddle Grid, the street grid system upon which inner city Melbourne is based. He was also an accomplished artist and depicted scenes of the Port Philip region as well as New South Wales...

, the Grid was laid out in 1837, and later extended. It covers the area from Flinders Street

Flinders Street, Melbourne

Flinders Street is a notable street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid. It is exactly one mile in length and one and half chains in width...

 to Queen Victoria Market

Queen Victoria Market

The Queen Victoria Market is a major landmark in Melbourne, Australia, and at around seven hectares is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. The Market is significant to Melbourne's culture and heritage and has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register...

, and from Spencer Street

Spencer Street, Melbourne

Spencer Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom....

 to Spring Street

Spring Street, Melbourne

Spring Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north-south, and is the easternmost street in the Hoddle Grid. The street travels from Flinders Street in the south, to La Trobe Street and the Carlton Gardens in the north...

.

History

While the survey plan has proved, in time, to be far-sighted for public utility, serving Melbourne to this day, at the time Hoddle's instructions from Governor Gipps

George Gipps

Sir George Gipps was Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship was during a period of great change for New South Wales and Australia, as well as for New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales for much of this...

 were more prosaic.

Land allotments for sale at public auction

Public auction

A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

 were to be produced as quickly as possible to deliver to the market. Gipps also insisted that all towns laid out during his term of office should have no public squares included within their boundaries, being convinced that they only encouraged democracy.

The grid was defined largely by the geography of the area. It was planned to span a gently sloping valley between small hills (knolls) (Batman's Hill

Batman's Hill

Batman's Hill in Melbourne, Australia was named for the Vandemonian adventurer and grazier John Batman. Now removed, the 18 metre high hill was located to the south of today's Collins Street and Southern Cross railway station, and is the site of a steel marker the same height as the original...

, Flagstaff Hill and Eastern Hill) and roughly parallel to the course of the Yarra River

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

. Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Elizabeth Street is one of the main north-south streets in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837.- Geography :...

 in the centre of the grid was built over a gully

Gully

A gully is a landform created by running water, eroding sharply into soil, typically on a hillside. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width...

 and has therefore been prone to flooding.

The wide main streets were also to accommodate the large number of bullock cart

Bullock cart

A bullock cart or ox cart is a two-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen . It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in many parts of the world. They are still used today where modern vehicles are too expensive or the infrastructure does not favor them.Used especially for carrying goods,...

s that would ride through the centre of town preventing them from holding up horse drawn traffic when making right turns.

In the 1860s, surveys extended the district, incorporating the region of similarly laid out streets bounded by Victoria Street, Dudley Street and the Queen Victoria Market.

Specifications

All major streets are one and half chain

Chain (unit)

A chain is a unit of length; it measures 66 feet or 22 yards or 100 links . There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. An acre is the area of 10 square chains...

s (99 ft or 30 m) in width, while all blocks are exactly 10 chains square (10 acre

Acre

The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s, 201 m × 201 m). It is one mile (1.6 km) long by half a mile wide (0.80 km). The grid's longest axis is oriented 70 degrees clockwise from true north, to align better with the course of the Yarra River

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

. The majority of Melbourne is oriented at 8 degrees clockwise from true north - noting that magnetic north was 8° 3' E in 1900, increasing to 11° 42' E in 2009.

North-south streets

Parallel

Parallel (geometry)

Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...

 to the Yarra River

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

:

• Flinders Street
  Flinders Street, Melbourne
  Flinders Street is a notable street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid. It is exactly one mile in length and one and half chains in width...
  
   (southernmost)
• Flinders Lane
  Flinders Lane, Melbourne
  Flinders Lane is a minor street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The street runs parallel to and to the north of Flinders Street and as a narrow one way lane takes on the name of the wider main street...
  
  ¹
• Collins Street
  Collins Street, Melbourne
  Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...
  
  
• Little Collins Street
  Little Collins Street, Melbourne
  Little Collins Street is a minor street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.The street runs parallel to and to the north of Collins Street and as a narrow one way lane takes on the name of the wider main street....
  
  ²
• Bourke Street
  Bourke Street, Melbourne
  Bourke Street is one of Melbourne's best known streets. Historically been regarded as Melbourne's "second street", with the main street being Collins Street and "busier than Bourke Street" is a popular catchphrase. Bourke Street has traditionally been Melbourne's entertainment hub...
  
  , incorporating Bourke Street Mall
• Little Bourke Street
  Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
  Little Bourke Street in Melbourne's CBD runs roughly east–west within the Hoddle Grid. It is a one-way street heading in a westward direction...
  
  ³
• Lonsdale Street
  Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
  Lonsdale Street is located in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid, it runs roughly east-west. Lonsdale Street's eastern end intersects with Spring Street while its western end intersects with Spencer Street. It is home to multiple office buildings, courts,...
  
  
• Little Lonsdale Street
  Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
  Little Lonsdale Street is located in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A part of the Hoddle Grid, it runs roughly east-west. North of Lonsdale Street and south of La Trobe Street, Little Lonsdale Street's eastern end intersects with Spring Street while its western end intersects with...
  
  ⁴
• La Trobe Street
  La Trobe Street, Melbourne
  La Trobe Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly from east to west and forms the northern boundary of the CBD ....
  
   (frequently incorrectly written as Latrobe or LaTrobe) (northernmost)

¹ One-way westbound, except two-way between Market and Spencer Streets

² One-way westbound, except two-way between King and Spencer Streets

³ One-way westbound

⁴ One-way eastbound

East-west streets

Perpendicular

Perpendicular

In geometry, two lines or planes are considered perpendicular to each other if they form congruent adjacent angles . The term may be used as a noun or adjective...

 to the Yarra River:

• Spring Street
  Spring Street, Melbourne
  Spring Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north-south, and is the easternmost street in the Hoddle Grid. The street travels from Flinders Street in the south, to La Trobe Street and the Carlton Gardens in the north...
  
   (easternmost)
• Exhibition Street
  Exhibition Street, Melbourne
  Exhibition Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The street is named after the World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building, which is located in the Carlton Gardens.- Geography :...
  
  
• Russell Street
  Russell Street, Melbourne
  Russell Street is a north-south street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837. At its southern end it intersects with Flinders Street and Federation Square, while at its northern end it becomes Lygon Street, a street famous for its...
  
  
• Swanston Street
  Swanston Street, Melbourne
  Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is historically one of the main streets of central Melbourne, laid out in 1837 as part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district...
  
  
• Elizabeth Street
  Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
  Elizabeth Street is one of the main north-south streets in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837.- Geography :...
  
  
• Queen Street
  Queen Street, Melbourne
  Queen Street is a street in the Melbourne central business district, forming part of the famous Hoddle Grid. It runs roughly from north to south. The northern end of Queen Street intersects with Victoria Street, while its southern end intersects with Flinders Street...
  
  
• Market Street
  Market Street, Melbourne
  Market Street is one of the north-south streets in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837....
  
  ¹
• William Street
  William Street, Melbourne
  William Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north-south from Flinders Street to Victoria Street, and is located in the western half of the Hoddle Grid....
  
  
• King Street
  King Street, Melbourne
  King Street is a main street in the Melbourne central business district. King Street is part of the Pacific Highway, and used to be part of National Route 1 until the city by-pass road linking the Monash Freeway with the Westgate Freeway was completed...
  
  
• Spencer Street
  Spencer Street, Melbourne
  Spencer Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom....
  
  (westernmost)

¹ Runs only between Flinders and Collins Streets, and is the single major deviation from the Grid.