New Zealand road once again the world's steepest after Guinness review

April 8 (UPI) -- A New Zealand road that once held the title of the world's steepest street has been reinstated following a review by Guinness World Records.

Baldwin Street in Dunedin was considered by Guinness to be the world's steepest street until June 2019, when the title was captured by Ffordd Pen Llech, in Harlech, Wales.

Representatives of Baldwin Street appealed the decision and Guinness analyzed the results of a comparative survey of the three-dimensional shapes of the two roads.

The analysis determined steepness in the record should be measured by the central axis of the road -- the center line -- in order to fairly compare straight roads to curved roads.

The central axis measurements found Baldwin Street has a gradient of 34.8 percent, compared to Ffordd Pen Llech's gradient of 28.6 percent.

"Sincere thanks to Guinness World Records for considering our findings," said Toby Stoff, who led the appeal effort. "It is important to know that Guinness World Records treats matters like this in a robust and professional manner. The issue of gradient was technical in nature only. There was no bad feeling toward the people of Harlech. I had the great joy of visiting last November. It is a wonderful heritage town full of friendly people."