As part of World Youth Day, Sydney Harbour Bridge will be closed to become part of an historic pilgrimage walk on Saturday 19 July.  World Youth Day 2008 is a week long event which will be held in Sydney from Monday 14 July to Sunday 20 July. It will be second only to the Olympics in its scale and complexity as a traffic management event.

The 9km pilgrimage is part of a six day program of events that will culminate in a Final Mass delivered by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, 20 July at Randwick Racecourse.

About 180,000 people will walk from North Sydney, over the Harbour Bridge, through Darling Harbour and then onto Royal Randwick Racecourse. 

Click here for a map of the pilgrimage route.

The Catholic Church says that it expects 125,000 overseas visitors for World Youth Day, with another 100,000 registered from Australia

The event organisers expect more than 500,000 people to attend the Papal Mass at Randwick Racecourse on Sunday, 20 July.

The message to Sydneysiders for World Youth Day week is: leave the car at home, and use public transport if you can and if you are travelling into the city, please allow for delays.

There will be changes to the road network to not only help motorists navigate their way around the events but to also cater for the large crowds expected.

The RTA will make sure everyone will be kept informed with extensive information about road closures and Special Event Clearways.