Heretaunga Street

View along Heretaunga Street from Russell Street in a south-east direction

It starts in Havelock North where it goes under the name Havelock Road, and runs for 2.3 km (1.43 Miles) until it officially goes by the name Heretaunga Street; it then runs for another 1.8 km (1.1 mi) until it stops at Russell Street where the railway line runs through the city and through the city's fountain. Then the street continues for another 120 metres (390 ft) as a pedestrian mall, where the road is a large public footpath, tree garden and café seating area. Then, from Railway Road for another 1.56 km (0.97 mi) as Heretaunga Street. Then at the area known as Stortford Lodge, at a road called Maraekakaho Rd, a ring road then changes the name to Omahu Road, where it continues for another 6.75 km (4.19 mi) where it reaches State Highway 50 at a place called Omahu, hence the name of the street. In total Heretaunga Street runs for 12.75 km (7.92 mi) from Omahu near Flaxmere to Havelock North, but the road only runs for 3.7 km (2.3 mi) under its proper name.

The road is mostly two lanes wide (one lane in each direction) and has a parking shoulders on either side. The legal road has an average width of approximately 19.2 metres (63 ft).

The location where the road intersects with the railway line has for generations been regarded as the centrepiece of Hastings. It is here where the Hastings Clock Tower was built after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and the short pedestrian mall is located here.[1] The clock tower is registered as a Category I heritage building with Heritage New Zealand.[2] A night market is held on Thursdays in the mall, organised by the Hastings City Business Association.[3]

Heretaunga Street was regarded as Hastings' main street from as early as the 1880s. It has suffered several disasters since that time, including major fires in February 1893 and May 1907. Along with much of the rest of Hastings, the street was devastated by the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 3 February 1931.[4]

Most of the heritage buildings in Hastings as listed by Heritage New Zealand are within the central business district, and the streets that have most of them are Queen Street West, Heretaunga Street West, and Russell Street. Where Russell Street intercepts Heretaunga Street, there is in addition an historic area designation by Heritage New Zealand.[5] The following table lists the registered heritage buildings that have a frontage onto Heretaunga Street.

Photo	Name	Register number	Category	Address	Description
	Hastings Municipal Buildings	177	I	101 Hastings Street South and 319-325 Heretaunga Street East	Significant as the seat of the municipal government for six decades from 1917 to 1977[6]
	Westerman's and Co. Building (Former)	178	I	101 Heretaunga Street East and Russell Street South	Hastings landmark since its construction in 1932; designed by Edmund Anscombe[7]
	St Mark's Anglican Church	1032	II	513 Heretaunga Street East	Since October 2008 used as a Greek Orthodox Church([8]
	Central Building	1073	II	201 Heretaunga Street West and 100 Market Street North	A well-known landmark in Hastings, Central Building was designed by Edmund Anscombe and built in 1934[9]
	Hastings Clock Tower	1075	I	Railway Road and Hastings Central Mall	Considered to be one of Hastings' finest public landmarks; not the official earthquake memorial but holds plaques with the 93 names of those killed[2]
	Villa d'Este	1103	II	341-351 Heretaunga Street West	Built in 1929, destroyed in the 1931 earthquake and rebuilt to the original design[10]
	Roachs' Building	2787	II	244 Heretaunga Street West and King Street South	One of the most striking buildings in Hastings[11]

Albert Hotel on the corner of Karamu Street and Heretaunga Street East was Hastings' oldest building, and registered as a Category II building. It was derelict and had sat empty for some years before it was demolished in December 2014.[12]

Hawke's Bay has a lower population for its size and is not very prone to traffic problems. The gridiron plan of central Hastings lets traffic move easily. The pedestrian strip near the centre of the city makes parking down Heretaunga Street generally very challenging, as there is no major parking lot or a parking garage nearby. Heretaunga Street favours roundabouts, as there are 14 of them crossing intersections, compared to only two sets of traffic lights.

Heretaunga Street is known as the biggest of the main North-South arteries in Hastings, being the only one that goes straight from Flaxmere to Havelock North. The road is also the only one that runs through the middle of the Central Business Districts and is home to much of Hastings' commerce and trade, where at the centre of the Street, at the CBD it is a 2.2 kilometre shopping strip, and at the very centre in the town fountain and clock tower is a pedestrian-only section where large stores meet cafés, restaurants and tall office blocks. This is generally known as the 'downtown' or 'central city' of Hastings.