Spit Bridge opening times: planning a Balmoral, Mosman or Cremorne move around the lifts

Which Spit Bridge openings clash with moving hours?

Source: Transport for NSW

On a weekday, the Spit Bridge is scheduled to lift for boats four times during normal moving hours, all between 10:15am and 2:15pm. On weekends and public holidays the first lift is at 8:30am, and there are five before 5pm. Both timetables come from the Spit Bridge openings page.

How long does each lift hold traffic? In 2021 a Transport for NSW spokeswoman told the Sydney Morning Herald the bridge is raised for up to 15 minutes each time. Our estimate of the worst case follows from that:

• Weekday: 4 lifts × 15 minutes = up to an hour of held traffic across the working day.
• Weekend day: 5 lifts × 15 minutes = up to 75 minutes before 5pm.

That is a ceiling, not a forecast. Transport for NSW also said that if no boats are waiting, the bridge does not open, and boats with a mast under about 6 m, depending on the tide, can pass without a lift.

What this means for your move is simple. Time the loaded truck's crossing for the gaps between lifts, not for a published lift time:

• Weekdays: the longest midday gap is the two hours between the 11:15am and 1:15pm lifts, and after the 2:15pm lift there is none until 8:15pm.
• Weekends: the longest daytime gap is the three hours between 11:30am and 2:30pm.

Here is how we at Balmoral Removals suggest building a moving day around it.

Spit Bridge opening times: weekdays, weekends and public holidays

Source: Transport for NSW; NSW Government

Weekdays: 10:15am, 11:15am, 1:15pm and 2:15pm. There is also an 8:15pm lift, and a 9:15pm lift "during daylight savings only".

Daylight saving began on Sunday 4 October 2026 and ends on Sunday 4 April 2027. Until then, a weekday has six scheduled lifts, though the two evening ones rarely touch a moving day.

Weekends and public holidays: 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 6:30pm, 8:30pm and 9:30pm.

The bridge does not lift on demand. A boat that arrives early must wait for the next scheduled opening, and there are courtesy moorings on each side with a 2-hour limit. That is what makes a moving day plannable: the lift times are fixed, even if the length of each hold is not.

Check that page again on the morning of your move, in case anything has changed.

How long is traffic held when the bridge goes up?

Source: Transport for NSW

The 15-minute figure is the best guide on the record. It comes from a 2021 Transport for NSW statement, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald: the bridge is raised "for up to 15 minutes each time depending on the level of maritime traffic and the day of the week". Treat it as a planning allowance, not a measured promise for your day.

The hold is only part of the delay. Once the span comes down, the queue has to clear, and a truck near the back waits for everything in front of it.

So plan on up to 15 minutes per lift, plus time for the queue to drain. Do not build a plan that only works if the bridge stays down.

Moving on a Saturday or weekend: why the bridge comes into play early

Source: Transport for NSW

The weekend timetable has eight scheduled lifts, against six on a weekday during daylight saving. The first is at 8:30am, then 10:00am and 11:30am.

Weekend lifts are also more likely to actually happen. The 2021 estimates put weekday openings at an average of 1 to 5 boats, against 10 to 15 boats per opening on weekends and public holidays. Those numbers are dated, but the pattern makes sense: weekends bring the boats out.

For a Saturday load-out from Balmoral heading north, that changes the plan. By the time a house is loaded, the 8:30am and 10:00am lifts have usually come and gone, or are about to. Instead of racing them, aim the crossing for the stretch after the 11:30am lift clears and before 2:30pm.

Peak hour on Spit Road and Military Road

Source: Beaches Link EIS

The bridge is not the only pinch point. In 2021, Military and Spit Roads were described as among the top 10 busiest road corridors in NSW. An estimated 75,000 vehicles and 35,000 bus passengers used the bridge each day.

The same report, citing the Beaches Link environmental impact statement, said morning-peak queues from the bridge "frequently extend to the intersection of Manly Road and Sydney Road". The figures are dated, but anyone who drives the corridor will recognise the picture.

Our advice: keep the truck's first crossing out of the usual weekday commuter peaks. On a weekday morning that can leave a short window between the peak easing and the 10:15am lift. If your loading will not fit it, the midday gap is the calmer target.

Cremorne moves need the same care even without the bridge. A truck heading north from 2090 runs along Military Road before it reaches Spit Road.

Setting the start time and the first run

Source: Transport for NSW

Work backwards from the crossing, not forwards from breakfast.

Moving north out of 2088 or 2090. The truck crosses once it is loaded, so your start time decides when it meets the bridge. You have two weekday choices:

• Start early and finish loading in time to cross before 10:15am, provided the morning peak has eased.
• Load at a steadier pace so the truck crosses in the gap between the 11:15am and 1:15pm lifts.

On a weekend, plan for the midday gap from the start.

Moving south into Mosman or Cremorne. The crossing comes after loading at the northern address, so the same arithmetic applies at that end. A lift holds traffic in both directions.

Which way the truck runs first. If the day has more than one stop, such as a second drop south of the bridge, order the stops so the crossing lands in a gap. For example, do the southern drop while the 10:15am and 11:15am lifts run, then head north after 11:30am.

School streets. Term 4 runs 13 October to 17 December, and 40 km/h school zones operate on notified school days. Allow for them on a weekday run past a school.

If your street is one of Balmoral's steep ones, where the truck can stand affects loading time too. Our guide to where the truck stands on a steep street covers that side of the plan.

Booking the lift or loading dock at the other end

If the destination is an apartment with a booked goods lift, loading dock or strata move-in slot, book it to start at your planned arrival and run long enough to absorb one missed lift.

On a weekday, the lifts on each side of the midday gap come an hour apart (10:15am and 11:15am, then 1:15pm and 2:15pm). That makes an hour of slack our rule of thumb. It is our estimate, not a rule from any building, and a longer booking costs less stress than a rushed one.

Every building sets its own conditions, so ask the building manager or strata what the slot covers and what happens if you arrive late. If you are leaving or entering a lift-less block, our notes on moving out of a walk-up and our walk-up and apartment moves page cover the stair side of the day.

Parking the truck in a Mosman resident parking street

Source: Mosman Council

In Mosman's Resident Parking Scheme areas, each property can get up to 40 visitor permits a year, counted from 1 November to 31 October. The first 10 are free and later ones carry a fee. Each permit lasts 24 hours and needs the vehicle's registration number when you buy it.

Council lists the scheme prices on the same page, with a new price list from 1 November 2026, so check the current fee before you rely on it.

Whether a visitor permit suits a removal truck in your street is a question for Mosman Council. Ask them before moving day rather than on it.

Foreshore permits are a separate thing. In metered foreshore parking at Balmoral and The Spit they allow one period of up to 3 hours per day, and only once you start a free 3-hour session at the parking meter or in the Cellopark app. It is not a truck answer. Beachfront moves have their own timing, set out in our Esplanade kerb window guide.

Moving over Christmas: holidays run on the weekend timetable

Source: NSW Government; Transport for NSW

Public holidays use the weekend and public holiday opening times. Over Christmas that catches three days: Christmas Day on Friday 25 December, Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December, and the additional public holiday on Monday 28 December 2026. New Year's Day, Friday 1 January 2027, is a public holiday too.

A move on Monday 28 December therefore faces eight scheduled lifts starting at 8:30am, not the six of a daylight-saving weekday. If you are choosing a date over the break, check whether it is a holiday before you book it.

The numbers to plan around

Source: Transport for NSW; NSW Government

The figures that shape the day, in one place:

• Weekday lifts: 10:15am, 11:15am, 1:15pm and 2:15pm, plus 8:15pm, and 9:15pm during daylight saving.
• Weekend and public holiday lifts: eight, from 8:30am to 9:30pm.
• Each hold: up to 15 minutes, per Transport for NSW in 2021.
• Christmas public holidays on the weekend timetable: 25, 26 and 28 December.

Book your move around the bridge

The best time to plan the crossing is before the date is locked in.

When you ask Balmoral Removals for a quote, tell us:

• both addresses
• the day you have in mind
• whether it is a weekday, weekend or public holiday
• any lift, dock or strata slot you have been given at either end

That lets the start time and first run be set around the Spit Bridge lifts from the outset. You can send it all through our Get a Quote page. If you want a sense of crew size first, our crew sizes and hourly rates guide explains how a move is put together.