When Sydney's new light rail line is finished, hopefully in the next four years, visitors to the city will not only notice a vastly different streetscape.
They will also notice large numbers of new towers, refurbished railway stations, and new stations being carved alongside the old.
There are a huge number of construction projects in various stages of development in central Sydney at the moment – the light rail project, requiring changes to almost every bus journey through the city, merely the most noticeable among them.
According to a list compiled by Transport for NSW, there are almost $40 billion worth of major projects in train in central Sydney, about 90 individual initiatives.
Construction has not yet started on the largest, the $11 billion new cross-city rail line from Chatswood to Sydenham. But drilling rigs have been testing the harbour, and Transport Minister Andrew Constance has said he wants construction underway by 2017. In the city, that will mean new stations at Barangaroo, Martin Place to enable interchange with the Eastern Suburbs line, Pitt Street near Town Hall and at Central.
Transport for NSW is also responsible for the $2.1 billion light rail project, which will require three years of roadworks through the city and the eastern suburbs, as well as station upgrades at Wynyard, Town Hall and Museum. And the department is planning a new ferry wharf at Barangaroo.
Many of the other major projects in the city are being driven by the private sector, even if, like at Barangaroo, they're being built on public land or, as is the case of new developments along George Street, seeking to benefit from public infrastructure works.
In the northern central business district facing George Street and the CBD, Lend Lease is planning to redevelop the old Westpac building, the Rugby Club and Jacksons on George.
Also around Circular Quay, AMP Capital is planning major extensions to a tower on Alfred Street and Loftus Street, in a $660 million project requiring excavation and the removal of an existing façade.
Heading further south down George Street, Brookfield last week won planning approval for a $400 million 27-floor office tower adjacent to Wynyard Station, while at the Event Cinemas on George Street, Mirvac is planning a 78-storey tower with apartments, childcare centres, and shopping outlets.
TMr Constance said: "The stand out sights in Sydney at the moment are the cranes in the sky and high-vis on the ground.
"The investment pipeline is being seen on every corner and our city is going through incredible change."
