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 (1609.344 m) in length and one and half chains (30.1752 m) in width. It is named for the explorer Matthew Flinders, who was (erroneously) credited with discovering Port Phillip at the time of its naming. It extends eastwards as far as Spring Street and the Treasury Gardens, and westwards past Batman's Hill to the Melbourne Docklands. As the closest street to the river, Flinders Street serviced Melbourne's original river port. Customs House, now the site for Victoria's Immigration Museum, is situated on Flinders Street.

King Street Overpass

An overpass was built over the intersection with King Street as part of the construction of Kings Way. It extended from Downie Street to just east of Custom House Lane. The overpass opened in stages with trams using it from early 1960 and other traffic from mid 1960. Many businesses and properties were overshadowed by the overpass which resulted in property values dropping and the closure of hotels, shops and showrooms. Plans to revitalise the area in the early 1960s never eventuated.