2015-02-25

Steepest street in world | Baldwin street in New Zealand

Baldwin Street, Dunedin, New Zealand, is in the urban range, which is 35 per cent, or 19°, meaning the 2.86-metre road rises by one metre. Baldwin Road is located in the Northeast Valley. The road is only 3500 metres long and climbs up Signal Hill with a beautiful view of the Otago harbour. Baldwin Road has a portable surface, not asphalt, for better grip to facilitate care and safety in the winter Dunedin snow. Roads running parallel to Baldwin are all very narrow. In the mid-19th century, Charles Kettle surveyed the layout. The road is named after William Baldwin, Otago Provincial Councillor and founder of the newspaper, who divided the area.

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Baldwin Street, Dunedin, New Zealand

Baldwin Road is one of the main tourist attractions in Dunedin, hosting local competitions and events such as the Jaffa Race at the annual Cadbury Chocolate Carnival, where 30,000 Giant Jaffas, hard orange candy sweets with chocolate centres, are rolled down the street. Another great event is the Baldwin Street Gutbuster, a race that goes up and back down again. About 1,000 people compete in various categories. Baldwin Street's claim to fame has sparked controversy after it emerged that the original entry into the Guinness Book of Records was based on a typographical error. Alternatively, the error may have been caused by confusion between degrees and percentages, mixed up with 38% and 38°. However, Guinness officially recognises Baldwin Street as the world's most prominent street, with a gradient of 35%.

First image credit: Mike Cronk