Sydney’s roads are getting upgraded. Earlier this month, plans were revealed for the stunning Aboriginal artwork set to line the M12 Motorway connecting to the new Western Sydney airport. And this week, a whole new “adults playground” has opened up beneath one of the city’s major motorways. Named Junction Street Plaza, the new urban space features a heap of outdoor activity facilities – from table tennis tables to a colourful parkour course – designed to get people (adults) outside.
Taking over a previously unused space beneath the M4 Motorway in the Western Sydney suburb of Granville, the new “adults playground” features a parkour course, basketball hoops, table tennis tables and street skating ramps.
Funded in conjunction with the NSW Government through its 2021/22 Places to Play Program, the new urban space is one of many outdoor spaces across the city that are designed to encourage Sydneysiders to get active in the open air. To date, the Places to Play program has reportedly provided more than $16 million to carefully positioned outdoor recreation projects around NSW. With its varied recreational equipment and weatherproof colourful design, this project cost $1.4 million – with City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Martin Zaiter describing the space as “up there with some of the best urban parks around the world.”
The multi-purpose park is part of a pilot program to transform about 1,000 square metres of under-utilised space under the M4 Motorway into outdoor space for the public to use as their own. As Western Sydney continues to grow (with Sydney Olympic Park and Edmondson Park among some of the fastest-growing suburbs), creating outdoor space that’s accessible to residents is super important.
“With more people living in apartments than ever before, this unique open space adds to our City’s great range of parks and sports grounds that are well-located and close to home,” Cr Zaiter explained.
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