Previously part of
Hume Highway, the road was bypassed as the main route through northern Melbourne when the
Craigieburn bypass opened in 2005; the road name was devolved back to its original identity as
Sydney Road as a consequence. As a part of the Hume Highway, the road was signed as National Route 31 in 1954. The
Whitlam government introduced the federal
National Roads Act 1974, where roads declared as a National Highway were still the responsibility of the states for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated by the Federal government for money spent on approved projects. granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to
VicRoads: VicRoads declared this road as
Sydney Road (Arterial #5733), beginning from Bell Street in
Coburg and ending at Brunswick Road,
Brunswick in 2004, and as
Coburg-Craigieburn Road (Arterial #5500), from Bell Street to where it meets Hume Freeway in
Craigieburn in 2006; the road in its entirety is still presently known (and signposted) as Sydney Road.
Community In February 1841, George Jones opened a retail store on Sydney Road in Pentridge. The
Victorian gold rush in the 1850s caused businesses to flourish on Sydney Road. Many were established to supply the miners on their trek north to the gold fields. Numerous hotels were built along Sydney Road in this period including the Brunswick Hotel, the Cornish Arms Hotel, the Sarah Sands Hotel, the Cumberland Arms Hotel, the Edinburgh Castle Hotel and the Court House Hotel. It was originally called Pentridge Road, as it connected the city with
Pentridge prison. It was renamed Sydney Road in 1859. The early hub of business activity was between Weston Street and Albert Street in Brunswick, but by the 1880s businesses were rapidly being established beyond Albion Street. In the 1920s the clothing and textile industries grew; evidence of their presence in the area can still be seen in the existence of tailors shops, fabric shops and an abundance of wedding gown shops. During the 1930s the Unemployed Workers Movement held street meetings on the corner of Sydney Road and Phoenix Street. These meetings were harassed and suppressed by the police, under the direct orders of Police Commissioner, General
Thomas Blamey. Young Australian artist
Noel Counihan played a significant part in this campaign. The State Government, concerned about the public sympathy being generated, eventually changed the law in regard to obstruction, with no requirement of permits to speak. A Free Speech memorial was built outside the
Mechanics' Institute on the corner of Sydney and Glenlyon Roads to commemorate the success of the free speech fights. Counihan's work as an artist and local resident is also commemorated by the Counihan Gallery on Sydney Road run by the
City of Merri-bek Council. During the second world war and in the 1950s, Sydney Road came alive with late night shopping. This included late night shopping parades with floats. The construction of the Barkly Square shopping complex immediately to the east of Sydney Road in the 1980s coincided with a decline in the success of the strip. The Sydney Road Brunswick Association was formed in the early 1990s to provide a focus for action to revive the strip, utilising a range of community development and marketing techniques. With postwar immigration, many migrant families established businesses. The multicultural nature of business on Sydney Road is reflected in the cuisines offered by its restaurants and cafes. Italian, Greek and Balkan cuisines were once the dominant non-Anglo fare, but since the 1980s Sydney Road's eateries have diversified and increased in number, so that the food available now includes Lebanese, Afghan, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, North and East African, Balinese, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Nepali cuisines. In the early 2000s, several hotels (pubs) were renovated and have become very popular live music venues. Property prices in Brunswick and Coburg (south of Bell Street) rose sharply in the 1990s and early 2000s. The signs of
gentrification are increasingly evident in the southern quarter of Sydney Road, with a rising number of clothing boutiques and many new eateries serving eclectic and contemporary Australian 'fusion' cuisine in stylish, designer environments, producing an increasingly diversified street life. As a major
activity centre in
Merri-bek, Sydney Road is a key component in any strategies of urban intensification to meet the requirements of the Victorian Government's metropolitan strategy,
Melbourne 2030. In his first speech in December 2006, newly elected Moreland Mayor Mark O'Brien proposed turning the entire 4.5 km commercial strip between Brunswick Road and Bell Street into a promenade, which would transform the usually congested Sydney Road into one of the longest pedestrian streets in the world. ==Landmarks==