For residents of Sydney and international visitors, cycling in Sydney has become significantly more enjoyable and accessible. The newly opened Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway ramp provides a vital connection across one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, linking the city and North Sydney with a continuous, step-free route.
Delivered and funded by the New South Wales Government, the cycleway resulted from a design competition won by a team led by ASPECT Studios. Their proposal—featuring a serpentine route—was selected for its thoughtful integration of new infrastructure with the bridge’s historic and cultural context.
© Brett Boardman
The nearly 600-foot-long, 10-foot-wide ramp officially opened in January 2026 and ends decades of advocacy and planning. Before the ramp, cyclists had to dismount and carry their bikes up or down 55 steps. The new cycleway addresses that barrier, offering a comfortable, everyday cycling experience that is safe and inclusive for a wide range of users.
The ramp blends advanced digital engineering with traditional metalworking techniques. A continuous bronze balustrade, designed as a woven ribbon and finished to age naturally, wraps the cycleway and references both the bridge’s industrial tones and the bronze details found elsewhere in Sydney’s built environment.
© Ruth Gold
Supporting columns are positioned to preserve pedestrian routes and key sightlines. Inspired by aircraft wing design, the lightweight steel structure is material-efficient and capable of spanning longer distances with minimal visual intrusion.
Public domain improvements accompany the ramp and extend beyond the cycleway itself. New footpaths, pedestrian crossings, a paved plaza with seating, drinking water and bicycle repair stations create a welcoming civic space that serves both cyclists and pedestrians.
Integrated into the ramp is a major public artwork by Jason Wing and Maddison Gibbs that explores themes of movement, connection and place at this important harbor crossing. The paving design depicts two eels traveling between saltwater and freshwater, recognizing the cultural and ecological significance of the harbor and acknowledging the Gadigal people’s land to the south and Cammeraygal heritage to the north.
© Brett Boardman
Beyond the bridge, the new cycleway connects seamlessly with existing routes. Oxford Street Cycleway meets the ramp and continues west toward the ANZAC Bridge, which links the CBD with the city’s western suburbs. The ANZAC Bridge, opened in 1995, remains an important cross-city cycling route.
This new ramp improves access to Sydney’s only cross-harbor bike route east of Iron Cove and is expected to increase bicycle traffic from the city’s northeast. It follows recent bicycle infrastructure advances in Sydney, including completion of the GreenWay and enhancements to the Oxford Street Cycleway.
Since opening, the Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway has quickly become one of the city’s busiest cycling routes, with roughly 2,000 bike trips each weekday and higher numbers on weekends.
The project team included design partners Collins and Turner, Yerrabingin, Design 5 Architects, Eckersley O’Callaghan, JMT Consulting Design, Electrolight and Urban Design Studio. Engineering and industrial design were led by Eckersley O’Callaghan, with heritage architecture and interpretation provided by Design 5 Architects.