Alexandra Avenue
The innovative Carlo Catani designed four lane boulevard commencing at Princes Bridge wound its way by the Yarra bank with designated pedestrian, cyclist, pony and carriage ways.
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Photograph - Hand-coloured, Valentine & Sons Publishing Co., 'Alexandra Drive and River Yarra, Melbourne', c. 1908, State Library Victoria
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Image courtesy of State Library Victoria
In July 1891 Melbourne suffered a major flood, when the Yarra River burst its banks and flooded surrounding areas.
Flood mitigation plans were developed which involved widening the Yarra River and removing a sharp bend, as well as building up the roads on the riverbanks to above the flood level. Carlo Catani planned and directed the Yarra River works and the construction of a road on the riverbank. On July 24, 1896 Carlo Catani wrote in his letter to the Inspector of General Public Works, William Davidson about the proposed Yarra River works:
The question is a complex one, as it involves, besides reducing the flood level, the other equally important one of improving and straightening the bed of the Yarra for navigation and recreation purposes, and also that very important factor of forming a beautiful promenade, worthy of Melbourne, on the bank of the river, where all classes could meet.
The promenade design by Catani consisted of five rows of trees delineating four avenues – the one closest to the river was for pedestrians, then a bicycle track, a carriage way and an equestrian route, known as the Tan track still today. The Avenue was officially opened by the Duke of Cornwall and York on May 17, 1901. The main purpose of the visit of the Duke and Duchess, who would later become King George V and Queen Mary, was to open the first Commonwealth Parliament on May 11 at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. The Avenue was named after his mother, Queen Alexandra.
Decades later, The Argus of November 13, 1937 would confirm Catani's Alexandra Avenue vision of a '...beautiful promenade, worthy of Melbourne,' in 'Great thoroughfares of the World' written by L.R. McLennan:
[...] Alexandra avenue, whose shadowed and dappled beauty [...] must stand, while the City of Melbourne endures, as a lasting monument to the genius, foresight, and pertinacity of Carlo Catani. It is to Catani, great planner for the future, a former engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department of Victoria at a period when the city was stepping from its swaddling clothes, more than to anyone else, that the residents of Melbourne owe this sweeping boulevard of almost Elysian beauty.
