Untold History: How central Hay Street went from a busy street to a pedestrian mall

The Hay Street shop keeper was not impressed. As he gave his opinion of the trial to test turning part of central Hay Street into a pedestrian zone in December 1968, the Channel 7 news cameras rolled. The footage, now held in the State Library of WA, introduced the man as someone “associated with a fabric shop”. And he was scathing in his assessment, saying that as the street was partially closed for the two-hour trial in the middle of the day, “Hay Street trade stopped”. “People (are) running around up and down Hay Street, they don’t shop,” he said. “They are runners, they are definitely not shoppers.” But another man, introduced as “State manager of a large men’s clothing store” had a very different view. He said trade had been “very good indeed”. “I think it’s the greatest thing that ever happened,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the buses and taxis at the present time can’t be out of the city but when they do, it will make it much better indeed.” The sharp divide in opinions was emblematic of the hotly contested move towards turning what was once a busy city street into what is now arguably WA’s best known pedestrian strip. It is no secret that Perth is sometimes derided as being behind the times, but that was certainly not the case when it came to the idea of creating a mall in the main street of an Australian city. Hay Street’s slow progression to becoming partly a pedestrian mall has a long and contested history, and can be traced back to at least the 1950s, when the road was made one-way to relieve increasing traffic congestion. Historian Jenny Gregory, in City of Light, A History of Perth since the 1950s, wrote that “talk of piazzas and the needs of pedestrians” had been an ongoing topic as the 1960s unfolded. In 1963 the Perth City Council had rejected a proposal from the WA branch of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects for a pedestrian mall in Hay Street. There was opposition to a traffic-free precinct from retailers and property owners, Gregory wrote. Retailers feared that trade would be affected because shoppers would not be able to park close to major shops and impulse buying would be hit. “Property owners were concerned that once trade reduced, property values would diminish,” Gregory wrote. But controversial city planner turned-councillor Paul Ritter, along with new city planner Eric Sabin, pushed for a trial mall. “A model of the city centre, prepared by Ritter with the assistance of the City Valuer, demonstrated that pedestrian circulation had a favourable influence on building values,” Gregory wrote. On December 9, 1968, the future was tested in Hay Street between Barrack and William streets. The West Australian reported the outcome the next day, under a headline which read “Confusion in Mall”. “Confusion marked the beginning of Perth’s two-hour experimental pedestrian mall in Hay Street yesterday,” the article said. “A big bank up of traffic occurred as three pointsmen directed west-bound traffic in Hay Street into Barrack Street. “Traffic going north and south in Barrack Street banked up between St Georges Terrace and Murray Street. “The main confusion occurred because motorists approaching the intersection from Pier Street had no warning of the closure and most were not prepared for the diversion into Barrack Street,” the paper said. The scheme had begun at 12.02pm and for the first 45 minutes of the trial Hay Street was “predominantly a vehicle thoroughfare”. “Policemen had difficulty preventing motorists following the taxis as these were allowed access. “Pedestrians continued to pack the pavements as taxis cruised incessantly along Hay Street.” But gradually some order came about. “At 1pm people were more confident and the pedestrian traffic flowed more easily,” the paper reported. “The taxis thinned out a lot in the last half hour and bus drivers, who had been using both lanes, were instructed to revert to the left-hand lane.” Ritter watched on, with the paper reporting that he called the initial chaotic stages “suicidal”. “At this stage, a taxi driver leaned out of his car and yelled ‘get off the bloody road’,” the paper said. Ritter said there should be signs at the intersection and all parked vehicles cleared. He said the buses and taxis were travelling too fast and the whole scheme could be discredited if the initial experiment was not a success. “While he was speaking a woman pushing a pram narrowly escaped being hit by a taxi using the left-hand lane,” The West Australian reported. Police and traffic minister James Craig later announced that for the next day’s trial, taxis would be allowed only restricted access to the mall, to fill vacant taxi ranks. The West Australian said a cross-section of pedestrians interviewed was enthusiastic about the mall and 35 out of 40 said taxis and buses should be banned from the mall. The next day the paper’s headline said, “Hay St Mall Experiment Fares Better”. “Pedestrians yesterday had indisputable right of way on most occasions on the second day of Perth’s experimental mall in Hay Street,” the paper said. The traffic congestion at the Barrack Street intersection was negligible and “by 1pm up to 2000 people were using the roadway confidently as a pedestrian thoroughfare”. “Access to the mall for taxis was restricted and their speed was kept down to 5mph (8km/h),” the paper said. Ritter said the mall was “100 per cent better” than on the first day’s trial. Among those interviewed by the paper was Mr G. Chatelain, of Bedford Park, who declared that “Perth needs a cosmopolitan mall”. “It would attract tourists, and shoppers and add to business rather than detract from it,” he said. “The mall should be permanent, shaded in summer by trees, but spilling with sunshine.” The next day The West reported that barrows and stalls had made a brief appearance in the trial closure. “Two barrow-loads of shoes arranged under colourful beach umbrellas were set up on the road outside a show shop at noon,” the paper said. Across the street another shop sold materials from a transportable stall on the pavement outside the shop. “But at 1.45pm the police ordered both stalls off the mall because they contravened traffic regulations,” the paper reported. Nevertheless, the mall idea was gathering momentum. Acting city planner Leif Nilsson said the council could see no technical obstacles to creating a permanent mall, and that ultimately there could also be permanent malls in Murray Street and Forrest Place. There was another trial closure in 1969, and The West reported on November 23, 1970, that “city shoppers will have a taste of Mediterranean living today with the opening of the pedestrian mall in central Hay Street.” Council workers had worked the day before to set up umbrellas and chairs and position trees and shrubs. The first stage of a two-stage plan also saw parking meters removed and the roadway reduced to a winding thoroughfare 20-feet wide, marked by plastic strips, with vehicles restricted to 5mph. “The second stage provides for the exclusion of traffic, except emergency vehicles, and awnings over the street at each end and between arcades,” the paper said. The next day the paper reported that “the first stage towards creating a permanent shopping mall in central Hay Street went into operation yesterday and the changeover, apart from a few problems, was smooth”. “While traffic still created some problems, ‘the public was quick to make use of the new facilities in Hay Street’. “By lunchtime it was hard to find an empty chair under the umbrellas. “People sat at the tables eating sandwiches and drinking cool drinks. “They did not seem to notice the exhaust fumes from buses and other vehicles that passed within a few feet of them, or the cloud of dust rising from the street sweeper’s broom.” The Retail Traders’ Association said shops were enthusiastic about the changes “because they added to shoppers’ convenience” but that the ultimate benefit would not be gauged fully until close shopper parking became available, the paper said. Gregory wrote that gradually more and more vehicles were excluded from the precinct, and bus services were re-routed in 1974 after the city’s first bus station was completed. Free central city clipper bus services were introduced which ran around the main shopping district. Taxis were excluded and taxi ranks relocated to each end of the mall. More changes were made over time. In 1975 about 17,000 slabs were laid in a new-look mall. In 1976 seating units, trees in planters and in the pavement, banner poles and light poles were installed, Gregory wrote. The Hay Street mall was here to stay.