Baldwin Street, Dunedin

Story

Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, New Zealand is the world's steepest residential street, according to the Guinness World Records. It is located in the residential suburb of North East Valley, 3.5km northeast of Dunedin's central business district.A short straight street a little under 350m long, Baldwin Street runs east from the valley of the Lindsay Creek up the side of Signal Hill towards Opoho, rising from 30m above sea level at its junction with North Road to 100m above sea level at the top, an average slope of slightly more than 1:5. Its lower reaches are only moderately steep, and the surface is asphalt, but the upper reaches of this cul-de-sac are far steeper and surfaced in concrete (200m long) for ease of maintenance (bitumen—in either chip seal or asphalt—would flow down the slope on a warm day) and for safety in Dunedin's frosty winters.The 161.2m top section climbs vertically, an average gradient of 1:3.41. At its maximum, about 70m below the top, the slope of Baldwin Street is about 1:2.86 (19° or 35%). That is, for every 2.86 metres travelled horizontally, the elevation changes by 1 metre.Origin of the streetThe street's steepness was unintentional. As with many other parts of early Dunedin, and indeed New Zealand, streets were laid out in a grid pattern with no consideration for the terrain, usually by planners in London. In the case of Baldwin Street (and much of the Dunedin street plan), the layout was surveyed by Charles Kettle in the mid-19th century. The street is named after William Baldwin, an Otago Provincial Councillor and newspaper founder, who subdivided the area.