How to route a removal around the Spit Bridge

Northern Beaches Removals · 24 June 2026 · 7 min read

If you’re moving in or out of the lower Northern Beaches, Manly, Seaforth, Balgowlah, anywhere that heads toward the city, there’s one piece of local knowledge that separates a removalist who knows the area from one who doesn’t: the Spit Bridge timetable.

The Spit Bridge isn’t an ordinary bridge. It’s a drawbridge. Several times a day it lifts to let tall-masted boats through Middle Harbour, and while it’s up, it stops every car, every bus and every removal truck on the only main southern road exit from the lower beaches toward the city. A removalist who knows the opening times routes around them. One who doesn’t gets caught, and you pay for the wait.

What actually happens when the bridge opens

The Spit Bridge is an opening (bascule) bridge over Middle Harbour. When a boat too tall to pass under the closed span needs through, the bridge lifts, and all road traffic across it halts.

Here’s the part that catches people out: the disruption lasts well beyond the opening itself. An RTA finding noted that traffic does not return to normal for about fifteen minutes after each opening. So a 10:15am opening doesn’t mean “clear by 10:18,” it means a congested, crawling run through the Spit until close to 10:30. (Spit Bridge, Wikipedia; NSW Government)

And because this is the only major southern road exit from Manly and Seaforth toward the city, there’s no quiet parallel road to slip onto while it clears. When the Spit stops, the lower beaches stop with it.

The published timetable

The good news is the openings aren’t random, they’re scheduled and published. That’s what makes routing around them possible. Here are the times listed by Marine Rescue Port Jackson and the NSW Government:

Day	Opening times
Weekdays	10:15am · 11:15am · 1:15pm · 2:15pm · 8:15pm
Weekdays (daylight saving)	as above, plus a 9:15pm opening
Weekends & public holidays	8:30am · 10:00am · 11:30am · 2:30pm · 4:30pm · 6:30pm · 8:30pm · 9:30pm

Two honest caveats. First, the schedule shifts with daylight saving and can change seasonally, so always confirm against the live NSW Government page before relying on a specific time, especially that late-evening 9:15pm weekday slot, which only runs during daylight saving. Second, an opening only happens if a tall boat actually needs through, but a careful mover plans as if it will.

How a local routes a move around it

Knowing the timetable, here’s how the crossing gets planned. It’s simpler than it sounds.

Cross before the first weekday opening. The earliest weekday opening is 10:15am. A move that gets its loaded truck across the Spit before, say, 10am has a clear run and isn’t gambling on the bridge. For a lot of jobs that means an earlier-than-you’d-think departure, which we’ll tell you up front.

Or cross in the gap between openings. The weekday openings cluster late-morning and early-afternoon (10:15, 11:15, then 1:15, 2:15). Between 11:30 and around 1pm there’s a usable window once the 11:15 jam has cleared. We aim the crossing into a gap, not into an opening.

Don’t try to “detour around” it, time it instead. People sometimes ask about going inland to dodge the Spit. The inland alternatives, the Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road network, are slow at the best of times and the Wakehurst Parkway itself floods and is due for major roadworks from mid-2026. The realistic answer on the lower beaches isn’t a detour, it’s timing the crossing so the truck simply isn’t on the bridge when it lifts.

Watch the weekends. If your move has to be on a Saturday or Sunday, note that weekends have more openings, spread right across the day (every couple of hours from 8:30am). Weekend moves need the timetable watched even more closely than weekday ones.

A worked example

Say you’re moving from Seaforth to the city on a weekday. The crew loads through the morning. Left to chance, a truck that rolls up to the Spit at 10:15 sits through the opening and the fifteen-minute recovery, billed time, for nothing.

Planned around the timetable, the same job either has the loaded truck across the bridge before 10am, or holds the crossing until the 11:30-to-1pm window when the bridge is quiet. Either way the truck keeps moving, the hours go on your furniture instead of the bridge, and the bill is lower for it.

That’s the whole trick. Nothing exotic, just a removalist who reads the timetable the way a local does.

Where we fit

We move across the Spit regularly, so we plan the crossing around the openings rather than getting caught by them, and we’ll always check the current timetable, daylight saving and all, before locking in your move-day timing. If your route touches the Spit Bridge, tell us your pickup and drop-off suburbs and your preferred date, and we’ll work out the crossing window that keeps the truck moving. On the lower Northern Beaches, knowing when the bridge goes up is half the job.

Common questions

What are the Spit Bridge opening times?

Per NSW Government and Marine Rescue Port Jackson, weekday openings are at 10:15am, 11:15am, 1:15pm, 2:15pm and 8:15pm, with an extra 9:15pm opening during daylight saving. Weekend and public-holiday openings are at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 6:30pm, 8:30pm and 9:30pm. Schedules change seasonally, so always check the live NSW Government page before relying on a specific time.

How long does the Spit Bridge hold up traffic?

Longer than the opening itself. The bridge lifts to let tall-masted boats through, and an RTA finding noted that traffic does not return to normal for about 15 minutes after each opening. So a 10:15am opening can mean a congested run through the Spit until close to 10:30am. For a removal, that's billed time if the truck is caught in it, which is exactly why a local crew plans the crossing around the timetable.

Can my move avoid the Spit Bridge entirely?

Sometimes, depending on your suburbs. Moves that stay within the Northern Beaches, or that head north rather than toward the city, may not cross the Spit at all. Moves between the lower beaches (Manly, Seaforth, Balgowlah) and the city or lower North Shore almost always do, because the Spit route is the main southern road exit. When the route must cross it, the answer isn't a detour, the inland alternatives are slow, it's timing the crossing to miss the openings. Tell us your pickup and drop-off and we'll plan it.