Bicycle NSW says that Glebe Island Bridge offers a great opportunity for a new pedestrian and cycle crossing that would connect the Balmain peninsula and Pyrmont.
Engineering digest: The bridge’s history
In 1862 the first Glebe Island Bridge was built. It was a private toll bridge, made from timber and known as Blackbutts Bridge.
Forty years later, in 1903, the second iteration was completed with an electrically operated swing span – one of the first in the world. It was designed by Percy Allan, an accomplished engineer who was also responsible for Pyrmont Bridge. These are the two oldest bridges on Sydney Harbour.
For most of the 20th century, the bridge provided the principal route into the city from the western suburbs. As well as a location for Jimmy Barnes’ I’d Die To Be With You Tonight music video!
Sydney’s industrial heritage: 1970s Pyrmont seen from the Glebe Island Bridge. CSR sugar refinery, the 4 chimneys of the Pyrmont ‘B’ Power Station and the Burley Griffin-designed waste incinerator. These sites are now occupied by apartments and the Star Casino (Image: John Ward courtesy City of Sydney Archives)
Then in December 1995, the bridge was decommissioned following the opening of the Anzac Bridge. It quickly fell into disrepair.
But it was not forgotten by active transport advocates
Although the Anzac Bridge has a safe shared path, access from Pyrmont involves climbing a steep, physically-demanding ramp. Once on the bridge deck, there is no shade. The noise and fumes from eight lanes of motorway traffic are very unpleasant.
From the shared path, tired, hot bike riders and pedestrians get a bird’s eye view of another, better option from crossing Johnstons Bay. The Glebe Island Bridge would be a level, direct and very much nicer alternative to the Anzac Bridge.
Community campaigns have waxed and waned.
In 2013, a cost-benefit analysis was undertaken for TfNSW. The report by Acil Allen Consulting concluded that removing the bridge would provide a better option than fixing it for $12m, or upgrading it for $37.5. But no action was taken. In the same year the bridge was placed on the State Heritage Register, complicating plans for its future.
Use of the bridge for active transport is deeply embedded in strategic thinking
An open Glebe Island Bridge is a core element of numerous NSW Government strategies and plans. Recent examples are the Bays West Place Strategy, the Strategic Cycleways Corridors program and the Pyrmont-Ultimo Transport Plan.
Each time another plan is released, the community’s hopes are raised that a revitalised Glebe Island Bridge is more than a gleam in the planners’ eyes.
For now though, the bridge is permanently open to allow vessels to continue passing between Blackwattle and Rozelle Bays and Sydney Harbour. To some extent, it is useful in its idleness.
However, its neglect cannot be ignored, particularly by the thousands of cyclists, walkers and joggers who cross the Anzac Bridge every day.
Looking west towards Rozelle. An aerial view from November 2022 shows the Glebe Island Bridge – with the swing section open to allow water traffic through – beside the ANZAC bridge (Image: Brook Mitchell/Sydney Morning Herald)
Is restoration back on the cards?
In November 2025 several news outlets circulated a computer-generated vision of how Glebe Island Bridge could be redeveloped. The image was professional and polished, sparking conversation in the usual channels of the active travel community. Was this an official Transport for NSW project update?
An exciting vision that has ignited the Glebe Bridge Island discussion (Image: Benn+Penna)
The murmuring questions were soon answered. In fact, the image had been created by architect and local resident, Andrew Benn, who passes the bridge on his daily commutes to his studio in Pyrmont.
Mr Benn’s proposal shows a contemporary design featuring an elevated pedestrian bridge that arches over the existing heritage bridge, and includes dedicated cycling lanes as well as landscaped green spaces. It was a brilliant conversation-starter that grabbed plenty of media attention.
Another driving force behind a transformation is Kobi Shetty MP, Greens Member for Balmain. She has launched a petition calling on the NSW Transport Minister to restore and reopen the bridge.
“With congestion on the peninsula making it harder to get into the city than ever before, the NSW Government needs to prioritise reopening the Glebe Island Bridge to give people a safer walking and cycling option. This would also help lower transport costs for our community.”
Similarly, local campaign group, Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle, has worked to put the bridge at the centre of its plans for the Bays West Harbour Path, a safe, easy, car-free link between the Balmain Peninsula and Sydney’s CBD for walkers, wheelchairs, prams and bikes.
Inner West Council and the City of Sydney have lobbied for the reopening of the Glebe Island Bridge for many years. Advocacy has ramped up recently, with Inner West Councillors unanimously supporting an October 2025 Notice of Motion to negotiate with the NSW Government about funding.
The bigger picture: Managing a wide range of interests
Redevelopment of the bridge is being discussed amidst the opening of Sydney’s new $836 million Fish Market, and future Bays West masterplan for the wider Glebe Island area.
The new or restored Glebe Island Bridge will have to consider the commercial vessels servicing the Fish Market, the future ferries that will help transport millions of Fish Market visitors every year, access to a key Sydney Metro West station in the Bays Precinct, and proposals to build thousands of new high-density apartments.
And there’s more. Sydney’s Working Port Coalition – an alliance of 20 peak bodies, companies and associations from the cruise industry, shipping and maritime services – are actively fighting to ensure their operations will remain unaffected by the wider plans for change.
Put simply: Glebe Island Bridge is a piece in a much larger jigsaw.
However, there is good news. Where opposition to an active transport bridge could have emerged from existing industries, it has not – so far.
In fact, Sydney’s Working Port Coalition has recently prepared concept plans for Glebe island showing a ‘hybrid’ mix of housing and commercial activities. And front and centre of the renders is a fully restored Glebe Island Bridge.
Sydney’s Working Port Coalition have sent renders to the NSW Government showing how proposed apartments on a reimaged Glebe Island could co-exist with maritime operations (Image: Sydney’s Working Port Coalition)
It is clear that a revitalisation of the bridge would require a business case that is inclusive of several other stakeholders in the area.
But this is nothing new. With so many infrastructure achievements in 2025, after so many years of dedicated advocacy, it’s time to make another one happen!
Deteriorating as you read this: time to act
Transport for NSW itself has written that: “Glebe Island Bridge is currently deteriorating because of its age, its original structural materials, and prolonged exposure to the corrosive marine environment.”
Local residents have sounded the alarm for years. It is clear that action is required now.
The NSW Government plan to wait till 2030 to progress the project is not good enough. Costs will continue to increase, and Sydney’s expanding walking and cycling network needs this critical link as soon as possible!
How you can help campaign for Glebe Island Bridge?
- Sign the petition hosted by Kobi Shetty MP
- Write to your local MP and the Transport Minister, the Hon. John Graham, and urge them to transform the bridge for walking and cycling
- Join Bicycle NSW today and help elevate our advocacy
As our valued Member you support Bicycle NSW to be the leaders in bicycle advocacy in NSW. Bicycle NSW has the ear of government and works tirelessly to create a better environment for all bicycle riders in NSW.
Not ready to become a full Member? Then please consider a donation to the Australian Bicycle Advocacy Fund to help support our ongoing work to improve infrastructure for bikes.
Another vision. This one by City of Sydney is from around 2015 (Image: City of Sydney)