Big dig for new highway
Ormond Rd tram tracks pulled up
THE Geelong Advertiser announced in 1961 that Ormond Rd in East Geelong was to be converted into a four-lane highway.
The work involved digging up the road surface and removing the tram tracks that were no longer needed after the service was withdrawn in 1956.
The East Geelong section of the tram network was opened in 1923 with the line starting at the corner of Moorabool and Ryrie streets.
The tram line terminated in Ormond Rd. A branch line, continuing along Ryrie St to Eastern Park, was opened in 1930 to cater for football patrons travelling to see the Cats play at Corio Oval.
Our main photo taken in August 1961 shows a Holden taxi kicking up a dust cloud on Ormond Rd as it sweeps past a Swallow’s biscuits truck.
It was a different story in our second photo, taken in June of the same year, which shows workers battling mud to transform the roadway.
The Notts outlet on the right of the picture was a part of the Ormond Rd streetscape on the north side near the intersection with Garden St for many years.
The milk bar next door is advertising Moore’s milk and cream and Peters ice cream.
The roadworks included the construction of a median strip, and workers can be seen preparing for the pouring of concrete for the median strip.
The thoroughfare may not have become a highway, but the speed limit increases to 70km/h beside the cemetery. Contact: peterjohnbegg@gmail.com