New West Road
| New Middle Palace Manor Road 中新大甬 | |
| Native name | 西新大甬 |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Metropolitan Board of Roads |
| Length | 5,450 m (17,880 ft) |
| Width | 70 m, 8 lanes |
| Construction | |
| Completion | Jun. 30, 1858 |
| Other | |
| Known for | Expensive real estate, famous houses |
| Status | Traffic calmed zone |
The New West Road is a major road in Kien-k'ang, Themiclesia. It connects the Great Northern Highway at the 'Reng-men roundabout and the eastern (Kien-k'ang) end of the New Northern Bridge (Bridge No. 15), in a roughly north-south direction. The road was commissioned by the City in the early 1850s for the convenience of a burgeoning neighbourhood based on serjeanty land concessions from the Middle Palace, where many wealthy and powerful individuals were migrating. Today, it is famed for its luscious landscaping in its medians, historic street lamps, and the generally expensive real estate on its side, often associated with famous personalities.
Route
Road design
New West Road today has eight vehicular lanes, divided into four carriageways of two lanes each. The two central carriageways are conventionally called the coach road, and the outer ones, wagon road. On both sides of the road, the coach and wagon roads are divided by medians 19.5 metres (64 ft) across. The two central carriageways, with traffic in opposite directions, are divided by a narrower median measuring 5 metres (16 ft) across. Beside the wagon road is the storm sewer garden, bicycle lane, and pedestrian paths. The total width of the road is around 70 metres (230 ft), measured from property lines. The vehicular and bicycle lanes are sealed with asphalt, while the pedestrian path are paved with stone blocks.
The medians dividing the coach and wagon roads are some of the widest in Kien-k'ang, outsizing even the ones on the Royal Avenue at 17.5 metres (57 ft). The median is dominated by fir that reach a height of 60 metres (200 ft), while shorter deciduous trees are planted around and between the fir, such as oak and maple. The outer fringes of the median are regularly landscaped with flowering plants, often changing once a season since 1952 so that blooming flowers would be present year-round. There are footpaths in the medians and open spaces for pleasure, and public art is present. The median between the two coach roads is more modest and accommodates the road's historic gaslamps, which is mounted on brick pillars surrounded by shrubs.
The wagon roads were bordered by the storm sewer, which was installed expressly to prevent water from puddling on the road surface. The sewer has a vertical side on the pavement and an inclined side facing the street. Roughly above the sewer is the bicycle lane, which is separated from the pedestrian way by the sewer garden. The sewer garden is a landscaped strip about 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide.
Major intersections
History
Royal Avenue
New West Road was built as an imitation of the Royal Avenue (公右術), which led from the city's main ceremonial gate, the Vermillion Bird Gate, to the imperial palace. From the Medieval period, it was considered a road of dignity and political significance, and the buildings on the avenue were mostly residences of high-ranking ministers and nobility, doubling as their office when in government. This remained true until the 16th century when the nobility began spending more time in the countryside, particularly those sidelined by the throne. By the early 1800s, the trend had reversed itself as the crown lost power and prestige.
The physical design of the Royal Avenue reflected its status: for the royal coach there was a central reservation, on which commoners' vehicles were not allowed. The central reservation was flanked by trees, which grew to astounding height in the centuries they were left untended. Gutters were dug to prevent water from puddling on the reservation, and the centre of the road was raised to shed water. It was paved with slabs of stone quarried from the north of Themiclesia. The road was very nearly straight. These features contrasted with other streets in urban Kien-k'ang at that time, which were often discontinuous, dusty, narrow, and crooked.
Transit
Legacy
Other wooded boulevards
Social equality
Due to the exceptional proper valuation of the residential land on the street, New West Road has often been used as an example of both extreme social inequality and privilege of the wealthy. To discourage speculation, residential land was taxed at the most recent transaction price. As inheritance did not constitute transaction, some properties on New West Road were valued on the basis of transactions in the 1800s or even 1700s, when land prices there were much lower; in fact, some palatial properties paid a small fraction of the tax of a dilapidated apartment in an undesirable neighbourhood.[1] This stood in stark contrast with the market value of these properties, which surpassed $10,000 per square foot on the title in 2002.
See also
Notes
- ↑ It was revealed that No. 154, with an estimated market value of $34,000,000, paid only $10.50 in property tax in 2013, on the basis of a $2,100 transaction in 1824. On the other hand, the annual rent the proprietor collected from the tenant was subject to income taxation valued at 45%.