It’s one of the primary traffic arteries in the city, connected to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but for one full week between December 31 and January 6, the Cahill Expressway will become a pedestrianised party hub for seven days of festivities to ring in 2022.
It’s hoped creating the pop-up fun park on the Cahill Expressway – featuring markets, food trucks, performances and big screens during the day, and big-name headliners, restaurants, bars and dancefloors by night – will attract enough interstate tourism to make up some of the financial shortfalls. The stretch of road to be transformed sits atop Circular Quay train station overlooking Sydney Cove and will boast unparalleled views of the NYE fireworks over the Harbour with uninterrupted views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
The bold plans, revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald, will temporarily requisition the road for NYE celebrations as part of an ambitious strategy to revitalise Sydney’s CBD and tourism sector.
While the closure of the expressway will only be temporary, the plans are modeled on New York’s famous High Line, which transformed miles of elevated train tracks into a sprawling urban garden. The experiment is part of a $200 million State Significant Event Fund, created specifically to support new visitor attractions and interstate travel-worthy happenings. It’s also aligned with the city’s plans for establishing a robust 24-hour economy, with greater after-dark infrastructure like public transport, all-night venues and creative activations of public spaces also aimed at attracting interstate visitors.
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