Queen Victoria Street in North Fremantle has always been a bustling thoroughfare lined with family businesses whose commitment to the community has secured a strong sense of place among locals and visitors alike.
At the gates of the town is the Fremantle Traffic Bridge, where plans are well underway for the replacement of the iconic structure. While not expected to close completely until 2025, works have begun with lane closures and detours.
Despite the looming challenges posed by the closure of the bridge, change is afoot on the suburb’s main strip.
In recent months the community has welcomed some brand new faces to the scene, including Wild Bakery and men's clothing store Mad About The Boy. The previously named Habitue restaurant has changed hands and is set to swing open its doors to The Bridge House, a modern Australian brasserie, in early October. And finally, the vacant venue between the bakery and Mrs Brown Bar has officially been leased with plans for another hospitality venue in the works.
Existing favourites have had a revamp, with Propeller launching up a cosy Winter pop-up ‘Side Gate’, with plans to reopen permanently in the not-too-distant future. And just down the road, Black Truffle has undergone a renovation, reopening as a BYO woodfired pizza restaurant.
Standing tall among the change is the community hub that is Old Bridge Cellars. The liquor store team has built a strong base of loyal customers who frequent the area for the range of fine wine, artisan products and of course the weekly Friday tastings.
Old Bridge Cellars Proprietor, Jay Beeson, says the works on the bridge has already begun to cause a few disruptions but the unwavering support from customers is reassuring moving into the next phase of construction.
“We are under no illusion that it’ll be tricky to get to us over the coming months, however with the amazing offerings in North Fremantle we know it’ll be business as usual on the strip,” said Mr Beeson.
“We have been liaising closely with the Fremantle Bridge Alliance and have plans in place to make things easier on our loyal customers including our subscription service, a fleet of delivery scooters and a strong pipeline of pop-up events to keep things as interesting as ever.”
A recent update from Main Roads WA has revealed that between August - October 2024 there will be no right-turn from Canning Highway onto Queen Victoria Street, among other changes.
The small businesses in North Fremantle are united in bringing people into the area, with special mentions to Ooh Coffee, Flipside, Mojos, Piggy Food Co, Bruce Town, North Fremantle Pilates, Love + H, Guildhall Events Space and many others.
