ÿþýüûúùøúûüüúùøú÷öõ ISSUE NUMBER1 : FEBRUARY 2002
company to build housing for employees in the Albert Street area. The property situated in Lyon Street, in 1871 housed 648 people in 30 x 2 room, 73 x 3 room and 1 x 4 room flats. This average of over six persons per flat gives an indication of how densely developed the Albert Street area had become. The development of Albert Street as a shopping parade from Arbroath Road to Dura Street was completed by the early 1880s.
Historical Background The Albert Street area of Dundee was primarily developed during the period 1850 - 1900. The Dundee Burgh (Dens Road Area) Statutory List produced by Historic Scotland gives a selection of Albert Street area buildings and the date of their construction. Address 41-57 Albert Street and 2 Raglan Street
Date Built Category 1850
B
56-58 Arbroath Road and 1 Kemback Street
1865-70
B
1-31 Lyon Street and 30 Albert Street
1866-67
B
The Impact of the Motor Vehicle on Albert Street The development of the motor vehicle from the early 20th century led to local authorities throughout Great Britain developing a road strategy which could accommodate the growth of traffic. James Thompson became an architect in 1904 and city engineer in 1906. His development plan of that period devised the northern bypass which became the Kingsway. By the early 1950s a land use plan prepared by planning consultants W Dobson Chapman and Partners recommended that a central area ring road be constructed. This project was only completed in 1992. It was also envisaged that between the ring road and the Kingsway, arterial routes would run to the northwest (Lochee Road) and to the northeast (Albert Street) linking these road networks.
Plan showing position of Listed Buildings
Historically it formed the principal northeast route out of Dundee to Forfar and beyond. The area bordered by Baxter Park in the east, Morgan Academy to the north, Arbroath Road to the south and Dens Road to west, was built up as a mixed use area, that is to say that uses such as residential, commercial and industrial were built during this period next to one another. Its development was privately led by local entrepreneurs who were involved in the development of the jute industry. The Baxter family, then (the mid 19th century) the biggest employers in Dundee, were the only textile
The arterials were proposed against the background of an expanding local economy, associated with a sharp rise in car ownership. What originally was selective road widening became large scale road proposals. With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1975 the pace of implementing the arterial routes gathered momentum. Looking at the Albert Street area large swathes of properties were acquired in the vicinity of North Erskine Street, Arthurstone Terrace, Dura Street and 1