New South Wales (NSW) Opposition leader John Robertson warned on Thursday that roadwork on the Sydney Bridge would affect about 200 events of the Sydney Festival. He said the closure of the bridge in three January weekends would make it harder for residents who live north of the span.

The festival attracts more than 200,000 people and will run from Jan 7 to 29. Among the scheduled events at the festival are a Kanye West concert at the Entertainment Centre, an A-League match at the Sydney Football Stadium and a Circus Oz tour.

The bridge work is initially scheduled for the second and third weekends of January, although a third closure later in the same month has not been ruled out if needed. The work would be done between 10 p.m. on Fridays and 5 a.m. on Mondays.

"The Sydney Festival will be memorable this year for all the wrong reasons.... No one in the government has stopped for a moment to think about the consequences of closing the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the same time as Sydney is... expecting up to a million extra visitors," Mr Robertson said in a statement.

The NSW government denied Mr Robertson's claim. Acting NSW Premier Andrew Stone insisted that the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and other alternative routes could accommodate the expected festival traffic. He added that January is the quietest time of the year for the bridge with 30,000 less vehicles on weekends.

"What (Mr Robertson's) proposing here is to either do the maintenance work on the Sydney Harbour Bridget during the peak period of the year... or not to do it at all in which case the bridge falls into a state of disrepair," Mr Stoner countered.

Mr Stoner added that besides the Harbour Tunnel, vehicles could also pass through Gladesville Bridge and Victoria Road, while the Sydney bridge's bus lanes, taxi and motorcycle access, rail line, cycle paths and pedestrian walkways would remain open.

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