George Street even more pedestrian friendly as City opens new public spaces

By ERIN MODARO

Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore celebrated the opening of the most recent public works on George St, improving and expanding the public spaces in the inner city. The finished works includes the expansion of a pedestrian boulevard that stretches from Bathurst Street to Rawson Place, advancing into Devonshire Street in Surry Hills.

The project is apart of a $43.5 million project by the City of Sydney in making the city central line of George Street accessible for pedestrians, public transport and cyclists. The NSW government has dished out a further $1 million and the federal government $7 million in developing the street works since the project was endorsed by Council in December of 2020, and construction began not soon after.

The entire scheme is projected to add 9000 square metres of car-free space in Sydney’s inner city, with the most recent developments on George St and Devonshire St including extended pedestrianised zones, granite footpaths, and more spaces for outdoor dining.

Transformation of George St more complete than ever

“I wouldn’t have called it ‘beautiful George Street’ ten years ago” Mayor Moore said at the public opening. “It was congested. It was full of cars. It was full of busses. It was dirty.”

Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport, Rob Stokes, who also attended the opening, said that the project was “transforming what was a very tired and frankly unsafe bit of George Street, into now a place that is for people”, and “making sure that our streets are shared spaces”.

In a statement by the City of Sydney, Lord Mayor Moore celebrated how the project had been carried out with “minimal disruption”, saying “this project has been delivered in record time”.

The ‘record time’ for finishing to project has been in the minds of the council since its conception, after usual tender proceedings were diverted when the construction contract was given to Civil Sydney.

With construction finished, the new pedestrianised spaces on George Street and Devonshire Street are now officially open for the public to use.