Park Road (柏道) is a street in the western part of the Mid-Levels of the Central and Western District of Hong Kong Island. It starts from Bonham Road next to Wilton Place in the west, and extends uphill southeast to the west of Robinson Road near St. Stephen's Girls' College, with a total length of about 542 metres. All sections of the road can be used by motor vehicles in both directions, but franchised buses can only travel on the eastbound section.
"Park Road" is also the circular point of Citybus Route 12M. Although the first sign of Citybus Route 23B in the westbound direction shows the destination as "Park Road", the actual terminal is the Raimondi College on Robinson Road.
History[]
Park Road existed in the late 19th century as part of Robinson Road. The current section of Robinson Road west of Park Road Crossing was called Upper Richmond Road. On 26 January, 1904, Upper Richmond Road was renamed Robinson Road, and Park Road also received its independent name from that day on. [1][2]
The earliest franchised bus route using Park Road was the CMB Route 12 which was rerouted in 1963 and was traveling westbound to Bonham Road. On 16 April, 1974, in response to the implementation of the Mid-Levels Bus Dedicated Route Project, the eastbound direction of CMB Route 3 (now Citybus Route 3B), as well as Routes 23 and 4 special express trips (now Citybus Route 40) were rerouted via the uphill lane of Park Road and Robinson Road. Route 12, which originally served westbound Park Road, was replaced by new routes 13 and 23B.
Initially, only buses and private light buses are allowed to operate on the entire uphill lane of Park Road (except evenings and holidays), and other vehicles must make a detour via Seymour Road, Robinson Road westbound and the Park Road downhill route to get to Lyttelton Road. On 18 January 1985, a section of Park Road uphill south of Breezy Path was opened and vehicles going uphill from Bonham Road to Robinson Road and Lyttelton Road could take Breezy Path instead[3]. In 1990, the government revised the traffic arrangements in the area, with the Breezy Path being converted from two-way traffic to only one-way traffic. Since vehicles going to Lyttelton Road needed to go up the mountain via Park Road, the uphill section of Park Road was opened to the public on a full-day basis from 6 April of the same year for use by other vehicles. [4]
Usage[]
At present, franchised buses only pass through the eastbound (uphill) section of Park Road, among which Citybus Route 13 travels in the direction of Kotewall Road Bus Terminus via Bonham Road to Leet Causeway Robinson Road section, while the lower direction travels through Lettyton Road to Robinson Road section, and the other routes (Citybus 12M, 23, 23B, 40, 93 and 93A) travel through the entire section of Park Road eastbound.
For green minibuses, the outbound routes 45A and 45S pass through the eastbound section of Park Road between Bonham Road and Lyttleton Road, and for the return trip, Route 45S enters the downhill lane of Park Road from Robinson Road and turns right to Breezy Path to Bonham Road. In addition, Route 56A enters the eastbound lane of Park Road via Lyttelton Road for downhill direction towards Robinson Road; and downhill direction of Routes 56 and 56B enter the westbound section of Park Road via Lyttleton Road. Since the westbound lane of Park Road cannot turn right into the eastbound lane of Bonham Road, Routes 56 and 56B must detour through Babington Path and Honiton Road.
Bus stops[]
| List of bus stops on Park Road (from west to east) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name of east/southbound (uphill) bus stop | Brief description of location | |
| ←Bonham Road→ | ||
| ←St. Stephen's Lane/Babington Path/Oaklands Path | ||
| St. Stephen's Girls' Secondary School | Outside 8-10 Park Road | |
| Euston Court | Outside Euston Court | |
| Breezy Path→ | ||
| ←Lyttleton Road | ||
| ↖Robinson Road↓ | ||
In addition, the Ying Wa Girls' School bus stop located at Robinson Road was once named "Park Road" by Citybus.
Gallery[]
Related articles[]
- Robinson Road
- Bonham Road
Notes and References[]
- ↑ Gazette No. 59, Hong Kong Government Gazette, 29 January 1904
- ↑ 1901 Map, The Historical Archives
- ↑ G.N. 227, The Hong Kong Government Gazette, Vol. 127, No. 03, 18 January 1985
- ↑ The prohibited zone of this section of Park Road was revoked in two phases, see G.N.s 1042 and 1256, Hong Kong Government Gazette, vol. 132, Nos. 12 and 14.