UTS students design pathway to the city

BY DHEEPTHI NAMASIVAYAM

While construction will not begin on the Ultimo Pedestrian Network (UPN) for at least another 18 months, planning and preliminary work is already underway.
The disused railway line at the end of the Central Station tunnel that runs behind the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and the ABC studios will be converted into a pedestrian and cycle pathway allowing access from Ultimo into Darling Harbour.
In the past, the railway line used to transport locomotors to the Powerhouse Museum.
Patrick Woods, UTS’s deputy vice-chancellor of resources said that UTS owns a work shed, which is situated at the northern end of the disused railway line. This has been leased to Energy Australia so they can carry out ‘subterranean works’ ‘ digging tunnels underground as part of the construction of the City West Cable tunnel.
A representative from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority said that until the tunnel is completed, construction on the proposed pedestrian railway will not begin.
‘We are in the enlightenment stage,’ he said. ‘There’s the basketball courts and [more and more] coffee carts are appearing.’
While the UPN land belongs to the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, the Sydney Institute (TAFE), UTS, ABC, Powerhouse Museum and Citigate Hotel have all formed the Ultimo Cultural and Educational Precinct (UCEP), which will oversee the upgrade project.
‘We want students and staff to have safe and pleasant access to Darling Harbour and the city in general,’ Mr Woods said.
He added that the City of Sydney Council has enthusiastically supported the UPN project and are keen to see it transpire.
Although funding for the project has not yet been established, Mr Woods said that the project will be funded by the partners of UCEP and the Council.
‘It is not expected to be exorbitant,’ he added.
A competition was held for UTS design students last year to create ideas for utilising the UPN space. The concept of creating a pedestrian pathway was well-received. ‘It was their ideas, their diagrams and their pictures which got everyone excited about the project,” Mr Woods said.