have a frontage onto Heretaunga Street. Albert Hotel on the corner of Karamu Street and Heretaunga Street East was Hastings' oldest building, and registered as a Category II building. It was derelict and had sat empty for some years before it was demolished in December 2014. Traffic Hawke's Bay has a lower population for its size and is not very prone to traffic problems. The gridiron plan of central Hastings lets traffic move easily. The pedestrian strip near the centre of the city makes parking down Heretaunga Street generally very challenging, as there is no major parking lot or a parking garage nearby. Heretaunga Street favours roundabouts, as there are 14 of them crossing intersections, compared to only two sets of traffic lights. Importance as a road Heretaunga Street is known as the biggest of the main north–south arteries in Hastings, being the only one that goes straight from Flaxmere to Havelock North. The road is also the only one that runs through the middle of the Central Business Districts and is home to much of Hastings' commerce and trade, where at the centre of the Street, at the CBD it is a 2.2 kilometre shopping strip, and at the very centre in the town fountain and clock tower is a pedestrian-only section where large stores meet cafés, restaurants and tall office blocks. This is generally known as the 'downtown' or 'central city' of Hastings. References Streets in Hastings, New Zealand Shopping districts and streets in New Zealand