| Address: | 10 Ocean Beach Rd |
|---|---|
| Suburb: | Sorrento |
The early views of Sorrento’s main street show a wide spacious streetscape. There was plenty of space for the horse drawn tram and the steam tram which plied the road from the ferry tram platform to the ocean beach. The arrival of the motor vehicle however saw the tram’s eventual demise in 1921. Prior to the road being surfaced in 1929 Sorrento looked very much like a new country town. Photographs attest to increased car ownership from the 1930s and by the 1940s median strips had been incorporated in part. By the fifties it is clear that the family car enabled people to come via road and the streets are busy with car traffic. The town changes irreversibly from the sleepy hollow that it had become during the depression, as many more families were able to and chose to come for holidays post World War II. More recent planning has aimed to reprioritise the pedestrian experience with the reclamation of traffic lanes for alfresco dining and integrated vegetation for shade canopies. In 2013 the car still dominates Ocean Beach Road. Recent roadside redevelopment carried out by the Mornington Peninsula Shire attests to their continued encouragement of pedestrian access.
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Horse Drawn Tram Outside the Continental Hotel: ca. 1890-1910 ----- Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria.
Steam Tram From the Continental Hotel: ca. 1890-1910 ----- The Sorrento Tram ceases operations 1921. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria.
Ocean Beach Road during Reconstruction, 1929: ca. 1929 ----- Image courtesy of the Nepean Historical Society Inc. (NHS).
Ocean Beach Road: ca. 1940 ----- Image courtesy of the Nepean Historical Society Inc. (NHS).
Ocean Beach Road: ca. 1940-1954 ----- The lawned islands have been removed to accomodate increased parking. Image courtesy of Rose Stereograph Co and The State Library of Victoria.
Ocean Beach Road: ca. 1940-1954 ----- Illustrates the former breadth of Ocean Beach Road. Note the number of lanes. Image courtesy of Rose Stereograph Co and The State Library of Victoria.
Streetscape: 2013 ----- The introduction of vegetation and reduction in road width accomodated the introduction of alfresco dining.
