Harcourt Road

Road in Admiralty, Hong Kong

Harcourt Road

Harcourt Road in November 2011, buildings include Bank of America Tower (Left)

Native name| 夏慤道 (Yue Chinese)
Namesake| Cecil Harcourt
Location| Admiralty, Hong Kong
East end| Gloucester Road
West end| Connaught Road Central
Harcourt Road

Traditional Chinese| 夏慤道
Simplified Chinese| 夏悫道
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Xiàquè dào
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization| Ha6 kok3 dou6
Jyutping| Haa6 kok3 dou6
Harcourt Road in 1961–1963, Admiralty Dock (Naval Dockyard-Tidal Pool) still exists, but the Boat Pool (above) is already filled with rocks to become a road. A view of Harcourt Road in May 2006, with the still-undeveloped Tamar site.

Harcourt Road is a major highway in Admiralty, Hong Kong, connecting Central and Wan Chai. It starts at Murray Road and ends at Arsenal Street.[1] The road is 780 metres in length and has four lanes of traffic on either side. The section of Harcourt Road westbound between Rodney Street and Cotton Tree Drive features a frontage road.

## History

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In the early 1840s when Hong Kong was colonized, the present-day Admiralty was planned to be of military use, the navy situated at the seafront and the army back on the hillside. That leaves in-between a rather large, elongated piece of land. In the 1870s, the Admiralty Dock was built on that stretch of land. Prior to its construction, the then governor, Sir Arthur Kennedy discussed the possibility of running a narrow public road through this land with the military officials but was rejected to protect military secrecy. Kennedy Road in the Mid-Levels was built as a replacement. Then for decades numerous attempts by different governors negotiating on this matter failed.

After World War II, the navy strength of the British Empire in the far east diminished, hence this piece of land containing the Admiralty Dock amongst others was returned to the government. The Admiralty dock finally ceased operating in November 1959 and was demolished soon after. Due to the rapid development of Central and Wan Chai, traffic congestions occurs frequently in the area and diverting traffic uphill to Kennedy Road is inconvenient.

So after the reclamation of parts of the dock, Harcourt Road was built and opened to public in 1961 to ease these problems. It was named after Cecil Harcourt of the Royal Navy who received Hong Kong from Japan after World War II, on 7 April the same year. Harcourt Road was once a waterfront promenade. The road has serious safety problems; 13 car accidents happened at the same curve of the road within six months. Hence on 13 August 1962, a speed limit was placed that traffic cannot exceed 35 km/h when passing that curve; this happened to be the first speed limit all over Hong Kong.

In January 2019, the Central–Wan Chai Bypass opened, providing a parallel expressway route to Harcourt Road, Gloucester Road, Victoria Park Road and Connaught Road Central.[2]

## Harcourt Road Flyover

[edit]

The Harcourt Road Flyover at the western part of the road opened on 19 April 1966.[3] To link Harcourt Road with Queen's Road East and Garden Road, the Albany Nullah was decked over and a new road built called Kapok Drive (now Cotton Tree Drive). These flyovers and slip roads opened in the late 1960s.[4][5]

## Events

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Protesters occupying Harcourt Road in October 2014.

From 28 September 2014 to 11 December 2014, the Umbrella Revolution took place. Harcourt Road, near to the Admiralty station, Government and Legislative Council Complex, transformed into Umbrella Square, was occupied for 79 days by pro-democracy protesters.[6]

Protesters on Harcourt Road on 12 June 2019, adjacent to the Central Government Complex

On 12 June 2019, protesters took place on Harcourt Road to oppose the extradition bill to China.[7]

## See also

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* List of streets and roads in Hong Kong
* Hennessy Road
* Connaught Road Central
* Bank of America Tower

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 73\. ISBN 9789622099449.
2. ^ Phila Siu (18 February 2019). "Hong Kong's Central-Wan Chai Bypass to fully open on February 24 after month-long first-stage operations". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
3. ^ "Harcourt Road Flyover opens on Tuesday". South China Morning Post. 16 April 1966. p. 6.
4. ^ "Flyover To Garden Road Open To Traffic Tomorrow". South China Morning Post. 3 August 1967. p. 6.
5. ^ "Slip road opens tomorrow". South China Morning Post. 4 May 1968. p. 5.
6. ^ DeWolf, Christopher (30 March 2015). "A Revolution in Place". Urbanphoto. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
7. ^ Claire Huang (12 June 2019). "Hong Kong protests: At least 72 people taken to hospital during clashes with police". The Straits Times. Retrieved 23 June 2021.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harcourt Road.

* Google Maps of Harcourt Road

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Streets and roads on Hong Kong Island

Central and Western District|

* Aberdeen Street
* Arbuthnot Road
* Battery Path
* Belcher's Street
* Bonham Road
* Bonham Strand
* Bonham Strand West
* Bridges Street
* Caine Road
* Centre Street
* Chater Road
* Cochrane Street
* Conduit Road
* Connaught Road Central
* Connaught Road West
* Connaught Place
* Des Voeux Road Central
* Des Voeux Road West
* Duddell Street
* Elgin Street
* Eastern Street
* Gage Street
* Garden Road
* Glenealy
* Gutzlaff Street
* Harcourt Road
* Hollywood Road
* Ice House Street
* Jubilee Street
* Ladder Street
* Lan Kwai Fong
* Lugard Road
* MacDonnell Road
* Magazine Gap Road
* Mosque Street
* Old Bailey Street
* Po Hing Fong
* Pottinger Street
* Peel Street
* Queen Victoria Street
* Queen's Road Central
* Queen's Road West
* Queensway
* Robinson Road
* Shelley Street
* Smithfield
* Staveley Street
* Tai Ping Shan Street
* Upper Albert Road
* Upper Lascar Row
* Water Street
* Wellington Street
* Western Street
* Wing On Street.
* Wing Sing Street
* Wyndham Street

Wan Chai District|

* Amoy Street
* Blue Pool Road
* Canal Road
* Causeway Road
* Gloucester Road
* Gresson Street
* Hennessy Road
* Jaffe Road
* Jardine's Bazaar
* Johnston Road
* Lee Tung Street
* Lockhart Road
* Luard Road
* Oi Kwan Road
* Paterson Street
* Queen's Road East
* Stone Nullah Lane
* Stubbs Road
* Swatow Street
* Tai Yuen Street
* Thomson Road
* Victoria Park Road
* Yee Wo Street

Eastern District|

* Chai Wan Road
* Fort Street
* Java Road
* King's Road
* Shau Kei Wan Road
* Tsat Tsz Mui Road
* Kai Yuen Street

Southern District|

* Aberdeen Main Road
* Aberdeen Praya Road
* Deep Water Bay Road
* Island Road
* Nam Fung Road
* Repulse Bay Road
* Wong Nai Chung Road
* Wong Chuk Hang Road

Spans more than one district|

* Bowen Road
* Electric Road
* Kennedy Road
* Pok Fu Lam Road
* Tai Tam Road
* Victoria Road
* Wong Nai Chung Gap Road

See also
Streets and roads in Kowloon
The New Territories

* v
* t
* e

Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System

Route 4|

* Island Eastern Corridor
* Island Eastern Corridor Link
* Central–Wan Chai Bypass
* Rumsey Street Flyover [zh]
* Connaught Road West Flyover

until 2019|

* Island Eastern Corridor
* Victoria Park Road
* Wan Chai Interchange
* Gloucester Road
* Harcourt Road
* Harcourt Road Flyover
* Connaught Road Central
* Pedder Street Underpass
* Rumsey Street Flyover
* Connaught Road West Flyover

* v
* t
* e

Central and Western District

Main borders and locations

Areas|

* Central
* Admiralty
* Tamar
* τ
* Mount Davis
* Glenealy
* Harcourt Road
* Kennedy Town
* Lung Fu Shan
* Mid-Levels
* The Peak
* Sai Ying Pun
* Shek Tong Tsui
* Sheung Wan

Education|

| Primary/
secondary|

* Bonham Road Government Primary School
* German Swiss International School Peak Campus
* King's College, Hong Kong
* Lok Sin Tong Leung Kau Kui College
* Sacred Heart Canossian School
* St. Clare's Girls' School
* St Joseph's College
* St. Louis School
* St. Paul's College
* St. Paul's Co-educational College
* St. Stephen's Girls' College
* Ying Wa Girls' School

|

Tertiary|

* University of Hong Kong
* template

Landmarks|

* Landmarks in Central
* Bank of America Tower
* Bonham Road
* British Consulate
* Breezy Path
* Central and Western Heritage Trail
* Civic Square
* First houses on the Peak
* Gate Lodge
* Grenville House
* Harcourt Garden
* Headquarters House
* High West
* Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences
* Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
* Island Pacific Hotel
* King George V Memorial Park
* Lippo Centre
* Lung Fu Shan Country Park
* Mount Davis
* Chiu Yuen Cemetery
* Mountain Lodge
* Ohel Leah Synagogue
* Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital
* The Peak Galleria
* Hong Kong Trams Station (former)
* Pacific Place Phases I-II
* JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong
* Island Shangri-La
* Peak Tower
* Queensway
* Sai Ying Pun Community Complex
* SoHo
* Shun Tak Centre
* South Korean Consulate
* Smithfield
* Tamar Park
* Tim Mei Avenue
* Tsan Yuk Hospital
* Victoria Peak Garden

Transport|

| MTR stations|

* Kennedy Town
* HKU
* Sai Ying Pun
* Sheung Wan
* Central
* Hong Kong
* Admiralty

|

Ferry terminals|

* Macau Ferry

Tram|

* Peak Tram

History|

* Peak District Reservation Ordinance 1904

This list is incomplete. Central has its own template due to the number of sites in that area.
Sites specifically associated with University of Hong Kong are listed at the relevant template.

Preceded by
Gloucester Road | Hong Kong Route 4

Harcourt Road | Succeeded by
Connaught Road Central

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22°16′51″N 114°09′49″E﻿ / ﻿22.28085°N 114.16355°E﻿ / 22.28085; 114.16355
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