Light rail construction works have unearthed nineteenth-century buildings under Alfred Street in Circular Quay.
According to historical maps, the buildings are thought to be related to commercial stores that operated between the 1840s and 1880s. One is thought have once been the Working Men’s Coffee House, while another might be a Chinese merchant store.
The sites are currently being carefully excavated and the finds recorded.
Work during August has led to further installation of light rail track on George Street outside the Queen Victoria Building.
Track has also been installed along Devonshire Street between Chalmers Street and Elizabeth Street, allowing further work to resurface the roadway, replace kerbs and pavements, and install street furniture.
Devonshire street between Marlborough Street and Crown Street will be closed to traffic for eight weeks from 18 August for ongoing intersection work.
All track has now been installed on Alison Road between Anzac Parade and Wansey Road, while the stop at Wansey Road is currently under construction between Darley and Wansey Roads.
At Moore Park, on Alison Road, the new light rail stop has been taking shape, with the stop’s steel structure now in place with cladding to soon follow. To allow for the installation of light rail poles, there are to be disruptions to the pedestrian and cycle path on the road over the coming weeks.
Track installation work is also being carried out at the intersection of Anzac Parade and Lang Road, while preparation works for track installation at the intersection of Anzac Parade and Alison road began at the end of August.
Progress in construction along Anzac Parade means that there is now continuous track from Todman Avenue to Meeks Street. New traffic lights are soon to be installed at the intersection of Anzac Parade and Sturt Street.
At the Kingsford light rail terminus, work has begun to install foundations for the pole foundations that will support the overhead wiring to power the light rail and the street lights.
In further light rail news, the first new vehicle for Sydney’s light rail arrived at the Randwick Stabling Yard at the beginning of September, one of 60 that will eventually service the network.
Testing and commissioning of the light rail systems is to start in the coming months, beginning in the area between Alison Road, the Randwick Stabling Yard, and Anzac Parade between Lang Road and Alison Road.