Elizabeth Street, Brisbane


Elizabeth Street in Brisbane, Australia is a major street in the centre of the city. The street was established at the beginning of settlement in Brisbane as a penal colony. Most of the street is fronted by low-level retail outlets, with an increase in mixed use skyscrapers being recently constructed.

Geography

Major shopping arcades on Elizabeth Street include The Myer Centre, Marcarthur Central and the Elizabeth Arcade. The Brisbane Hilton hotel has it main entrance on Elizabeth Street. The offices at Central Plaza Two have their entrance at the easterly end or downtown part of the street.
There is good pedestrian access around the street, such as pathways near the General Post Office and access to the Queen Street bus station via the Myer Centre. The street runs parallel to and south of the city's central mall in Queen Street. To ease congestion in the Brisbane central business district traffic direction is one-way from west to east.
At the top of the street nearest the Brisbane River is William Street and exit ramps from the Riverside Expressway. Between this intersection and George Street is the Queens Gardens, a small open park. Adjacent to this is the Treasury Building and the Conrad Treasury Casino, which is open 24 hours a day.
Elizabeth Street was one of various Brisbane locations used in the filming of the 2015 motion picture San Andreas. The street was used to represent downtown San Francisco after a major earthquake struck the city, with over 300 extras participating in the shooting of the scene.

History

Brisbane's first theatre, the Theatre Royal was at 80 Elizabeth Street. It was first built in 1865, was remodelled on a number of occasions and was demolished in 1987 to make way for the Myer Centre.

Heritage listings

Elizabeth Street has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: