The Bennelong Bridge is a vehicular bridge across

Homebush Bay Homebush Bay is a bay on the south bank of the Parramatta River, in the west of Sydney, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official suburb of Sydney, a ...

between the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburbs of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

and

Wentworth Point Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, on the eastern edge of the local government area of City of Parramatta. It is on the wes ...

. Construction started on 1 September 2014, and it opened on 22 May 2016.

History

Wentworth Point is a new suburb, having been designated under this name only in 2009 and rezoned by Auburn Council from industrial to (mostly) residential use in 2013.City of Parramatta – Wentworth Point – A Brief History
/ref> Before the bridge was built, Wentworth Point had only two road connections to the rest of Sydney and no access to rail transport except via Olympic Park railway station, some distance away. The western part of Rhodes, facing Homebush Bay, is also a newly redeveloped area, having been turned from industrial use to commercial and residential use only after extensive remediation works due to soil contamination from its decades of industrial use, which were completed in 2011. Linking Rhodes and Wentworth Point, the bridge was proposed by John Kinsella of Wentworth Point's developer Billbergia and designed by Wentworth Point Marina's urban designers and architects. It was designed to give Wentworth Point an additional access point by road (albeit not by car) and to allow residents to access

Rhodes railway station Rhodes railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Northern railway line, Main Northern line, serving the City of Canada Bay, Canada Bay suburb of Rhodes, New South Wales, Rhodes. It is served by Sydney Trains' Nort ...

. By improving access for the suburb, the developers were able to increase development densities in Wentworth Point. Construction of the Bennelong Bridge was approved by the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

in March 2013 with construction commencing in September 2014. As a designated T-Way,Homebush Bay Bridge
City of Canada Bay the bridge is the first in the Sydney region to exclude private vehicles, exclusively carrying

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

bus route 526,

Busways Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia. History The origins of Busw ...

bus route 533, Baylink Shuttle, cyclists, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles (a similar bridge already exists in Brisbane, the

Eleanor Schonell Bridge The Eleanor Schonell Bridge, better known as the Green Bridge, is a 390-metre (1,280 ft)-long cable-stayed bridge which crosses the Brisbane River between Dutton Park and the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus, connecting the UQ ...

, which opened in 2006). It also has the capacity to carry a future extension of the

Parramatta Light Rail The Parramatta Light Rail is a Standard-gauge railway, standard gauge Light rail in Sydney, light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first stage of the line runs from Westmead, New South Wales, Westmead to Carlingford, New S ...

. Bennelong Bridge is the first bridge to be funded entirely by property developers in return for additional development density at Wentworth Point under a Voluntary Planning Agreement between the developers and the

Roads & Maritime Services A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The wo ...

. Initially known as the Homebush Bay Bridge, it was named Bennelong Bridge after the historic indigenous river resident

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813) was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia. Bennelong served as an interlocutor between ...

. It was inaugurated on 22 May 2016 and opened to traffic on 23 May 2016. Local state MPs

John Sidoti Anthony John Sidoti () is an independent Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Drummoyne since 2011. He was a member of the Liberal Party, but moved to the crossbench as an independent ...

and

Luke Foley Luke Aquinas Foley (born 27 June 1970) is a former Australian Labor Party politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from 2015 to 2018. Foley was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Counci ...

officially opened the bridge. Despite the bridge being restricted to foot traffic and public bus routes, there have been reports of private vehicles illegally using the bridge as a shortcut. To combat this, a bus lane camera was installed in November 2016 whereby motorists illegally using the bridge are fined and gain a

demerit point A penalty point or demerit point system revokes or suspends a person's driving license based on the number of points accumulated over a specific period. Points are assigned for traffic offenses and infringements committed during this time. The de ...

Gallery

Wentworth Point Sydney.jpg, Looking towards Wentworth Point skyline Bennelong Bridge bus lane signage.jpg, Bennelong Bridge eastern entrance, with T-Way signs. Olympic Park skyline from Parramatta River (21623754143).jpg, The bridge under construction.

References

Bridges completed in 2016 Bridges in Sydney Concrete bridges in Australia 2016 establishments in Australia Road bridges in New South Wales Cyclist bridges in Australia Pedestrian bridges in Australia

History

Gallery

See also

References