# Hay Street, Perth

Hay Street is a major road through the Perth central business district, Western Australia 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, Perth, 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 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.

## 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 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.

### Cathedral Square

Hay Street between Pier and Barrack 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

| LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| Perth | East Perth | 0 | 0.0 | Riverside Drive (State Route 5) / Adelaide Terrace / The Causeway (State Route 5) | Traffic light controlled teardrop roundabout: no access to Riverside Drive or Adelaide Terrace. |
| Perth | East Perth | 0.15 | 0.093 | Braithwaite Street / Trinity Avenue | Traffic light controlled; no right turn from Hay Street northbound to Trinity Avenue |
| Perth | East Perth | 0.35 | 0.22 | Hale Street / Erskine Link | Traffic light controlled |
| Perth | East Perth | 0.65 | 0.40 | Plain Street (State Route 65) | Traffic light controlled; no right turns from Plain Street |
| Perth | East Perth | 1 | 0.62 | Bennett Street | Traffic light controlled; Hay Street becomes one-way westbound west of intersection |
| Perth | East Perth–Perth boundary | 1.3 | 0.81 | Hill Street | Traffic light controlled; Hill Street is one-way southbound |
| Perth | Perth | 1.6 | 0.99 | Victoria Avenue | Traffic light controlled; Victoria Avenue is one-way northbound |
| Perth | Perth | 1.8 | 1.1 | Irwin Street | Traffic light controlled; Irwin Street consists of two staggered one-way roads (north is northbound only, south is southbound only); Hay Street becomes two-way west of intersection |
| Perth | Perth | 2 | 1.2 | Pier Street | Traffic light controlled; Pier Street north of intersection is one-way southbound |
| Perth | Perth | 2.2 | 1.4 | Barrack Street (State Route 53) | Traffic light controlled; no left turn from Barrack Street southbound to Hay Street |
| Hay Street Mall ||||||
| Perth | Perth | 2.5 | 1.6 | William Street (State Route 53) | Traffic light controlled; Hay Street is one-way westbound west of intersection |
| Perth | Perth | 3 | 1.9 | Milligan Street | Traffic light controlled |
| Perth | Perth | 3.3 | 2.1 | Elder Street | Traffic light controlled; Elder Street is one-way southbound |
| Perth | Perth–West Perth boundary | 3.3 | 2.1 | Mitchell Freeway (State Route 2) | Freeway northbound exit ramp only; ramp continues after traffic lights as George Street |
| Perth | West Perth | 3.4 | 2.1 | George Street | Traffic light controlled; George Street is one-way northbound and continues from freeway ramp |
| Perth | West Perth | 3.5 | 2.2 | Harvest Terrace | Harvest Terrace is one-way northbound north of intersection; slip road from Hay Street to Harvest Terrace southbound south of intersection |
| Perth | West Perth | 3.8 | 2.4 | Havelock Street | Traffic light controlled |
| Perth | West Perth | 4 | 2.5 | Colin Street | Traffic light controlled |
| Perth | West Perth | 4.2 | 2.6 | Outram Street | Traffic light controlled |
| Perth–Subiaco boundary | West Perth–Subiaco boundary | 4.5 | 2.8 | Thomas Street (State Routes 61 and 65) | Traffic light controlled; State Route 65 westbound concurrency terminus |
| Subiaco | Subiaco | 5.3 | 3.3 | Townshend Road | Traffic light controlled |
| Subiaco | Subiaco | 5.7 | 3.5 | Rokeby Road | Traffic light controlled |
| Subiaco | Subiaco–Daglish boundary | 6.1 | 3.8 | Roberts Road (State Route 65) / Railway Road | Traffic light controlled; State Route 65 eastbound concurrency terminus; Hay Street is two-way west of intersection |
| Subiaco | Subiaco–Daglish boundary | 6.3 | 3.9 | Stubbs Terrace / Mouritzen Way | Traffic light controlled |
| Subiaco | Jolimont | 6.9 | 4.3 | Jersey Street | Traffic light controlled |
| Subiaco–Nedlands–Cambridge tripoint | Jolimont–Shenton Park–Floreat tripoint | 7.6 | 4.7 | Underwood Avenue (State Route 65) / Selby Street (State Route 64) | Traffic light controlled; Hay Street continues west as Underwood Avenue |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access ||||||

## 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 2017 album The Weather.