Sydney Harbour Bridge and other major roads to close for Australia’s biggest marathon
On your marks, get set, go! Sydney is gearing up for the city’s history-making marathon where up to 40,000 runners will take to the streets across several events for the Sydney Marathon on Sunday 17 September.
There will be major road closures from North Sydney to Moore Park between 3.30am and 3pm. A record number of participants will start from Bradfield Park, Milsons Point across all four events: the 42km marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km bridge run and 3.5km family fun run.
Runners will cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge and continue through the Sydney CBD, Pyrmont, The Rocks, Darlinghurst, Moore Park, and Centennial Park.
Transport for NSW Coordinator General Howard Collins said there were changes to the course this year because the Sydney Marathon was now an Abbott World Marathon Majors Candidate Event.
“This means more roads will close and other roads will close for a longer amount of time than in previous years. These changes are required to meet strict criteria and support this iconic event for our harbourside city,” Mr Collins said.
“The Sydney Harbour Bridge, Cahill Expressway and Western Distributor will close from 4am to 10am. The Sydney Harbour Tunnel will remain open but extensive delays are expected.
“Major roads from the Sydney Opera House to Moore Park, including Macquarie St, College St, Park St, and parts of Oxford St and Flinders St will close between 4am and 3pm.
“There will be significant impacts to buses with many buses detouring from regular routes, using different stops and/or ending trips early.”
Mr Collins urged everybody – particularly motorists – to avoid non-essential travel in and around the course precinct on Sunday.
“If you must drive, be aware that significant detours will be in place and long delays are expected – so, please leave plenty of extra time to reach your destination, particularly when driving between the Sydney CBD and eastern suburbs,” Mr Collins said.
“Motorists will only be able to travel east/west across the course via Cleveland St or the Cross City Tunnel, which will be toll-free from 5am to 3pm on the day, however, lengthy delays are still expected.
“We hope Sydneysiders can come out and support Australia’s biggest marathon by lining the streets and cheering runners on from one of the spectator live sites along the course.”
Operation Commander Acting Superintendent Samuel Nelson said police are collaborating closely with event organisers and other key stakeholders.
“To help assure everyone's safety, officers will be present in the lead up and throughout the event,” Supt Nelson said.
“Additionally, police are aware of a planned authorised march scheduled for 2.30pm on Cleveland Street, Sydney.
“NSW Police is working with Transport for NSW to monitor the two events and we urge motorists to be mindful of even further extended delays.”
For details on public transport for the event, including trip planning and travel alerts, visit transportnsw.info/sydney-marathon
For real-time updates on traffic conditions, including road closures and special event clearways, visit livetraffic.com
For more information on the Sydney Marathon, visit sydneymarathon.com
Vision pack and maps of closures and detours can be downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/401os747eb2grva/AADry_bDrmMrzQRCyUtPfYpma?dl=0
Key facts
Road closures
- 3.30am to 11am: Roads at the start line in Milsons Point including Alfred St South.
- 4am to 8.30am: Roads in Millers Point and Barangaroo including sections of Watsons Rd, Upper Fort St and Argyle St.
- 4am to 9.30am: Roads in Pyrmont north including Bowman St and Pirrama Rd.
- 4am to 10am: Sydney Harbour Bridge, Cahill Expressway, Western Distributor and some roads in Milsons Point and Pyrmont.
- Detours: Southbound traffic approaching the Harbour Bridge will be diverted via the Harbour Tunnel. Citybound traffic on the Anzac Bridge will be diverted via Bathurst St off-ramp. No direct access between the Anzac Bridge and Harbour Bridge until 10am. Motorists can use the Harbour Tunnel or Victoria Rd/Gladesville Bridge alternative routes.
- Note: Access to the Harbour Tunnel from the west is via the Cross City Tunnel only, no access via the city while major roads are closed. Drivers west of the city needing to travel north prior to 10am should use Victoria Rd/Gladesville Bridge.
- 4am to 10.30am: Roads in Millers Point including Hickson Rd, Dalgety Rd and Towns Place.
- 4am to 11am: Roads in The Rocks and Dawes Point including Hickson Rd and George St.
- 4am to 2pm: Roads in Moore Park including Moore Park Rd, Driver Ave. Centennial Park will also be closed to vehicles. Eastern Distributor Bondi Exit to Moore Park Rd will close from 2am - 4am and from 1:15pm - 2pm.
- 4am to 2.30pm: Park St, College St, Oxford St and Flinders St from the city, Darlinghurst through to Moore Park.
- Detour: Motorists will only be able to travel across the course via the Cross City Tunnel which will be toll-free from 5am to 3pm on event day however long delays are expected and motorists should avoid non-essential travel.
- 4am to 3pm: Roads in Sydney CBD east including Macquarie St, Bridge St, College St and Art Gallery Rd.
- 5.30am to 11am: Roads in Sydney CBD north and Circular Quay including Bridge St, Pitt St, Loftus St and Young St.
- 6.30am to noon: Southbound lanes of Anzac Pde from Moore Park Rd to Lang Rd at Moore Park. Eastern Distributor Randwick Anzac Pde exit will also be closed.
- Special event clearway parking restrictions will be in effect from 1am to 3pm on major roads in the city, Pyrmont and Moore Park and from 12.15am to 11am on roads in Milsons Point and North Sydney. Motorists are urged to check signs carefully to avoid being towed and associated towing fees.
Public transport
- Travel on all modes of public transport is covered for Sydney Marathon event participants. This includes travel on trains, metro, buses, ferries and light rail services. Participants just need to show their race bibs or medals to Transport staff when boarding services.
- Trains: The start line for all races is at Bradfield Park in Milsons Point. The closest station is Milsons Point on the T1 North Shore Line. Trains on the T1 North Shore Line to Milsons Point run every 7 to 10 minutes. Additional early morning trains will start running from 4am. Trains to the city run every 10 to 15 minutes on most other lines. From Central Station (Platform 16) additional early morning trains to Milsons Point will start running from 4am, then every 6 minutes from 5am until 9am. T4 Eastern Suburbs line services between Bondi Junction and Central will start running from 3:45am.
- Weekend trackwork: Buses replace T8 Airport & South Line trains between Glenfield and Sydenham, and between Sydenham and Central via the Airport.
- Buses: Services will be significantly impacted by road closures with major diversions in place. Buses to and from the city, North Sydney, Pyrmont and Moore Park will be diverting from their regular routes while major roads are closed. While the Harbour Bridge is closed, buses will start and end trips either side of the bridge in North Sydney and Town Hall or Wynyard – customers will need to change for a train to continue across the bridge between 4am and 10am. Buses from the east will start and end trips at Kings Cross or Woolloomooloo, customers from the eastern suburbs are urged to catch trains to the city from Bondi Junction instead.
- Light rail:
- L1 Dulwich Hill Line: additional early morning services to the city will run from 4am.
- L2 Randwick Line and L3 Kingsford Line: from first service at 5am until 11am, light rail services will only run to and from Town Hall due to road closures at Circular Quay.
- Additional early morning Sydney Metro North West Line services will also run from 3.45am to meet early morning T1 North Shor Line trains at Chatswood and Epping.
Spectator live sites
- Four spectator live sites will be along the course where spectators can cheer on participants.
- These sites are located on Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont; George St, The Rocks; Taylor Square, Darlinghurst and Driver Ave, Moore Park.