The bridge is set at a skew in comparison to the railway lines underneath, and carries the A59 road into, and out of, York city centre.

[2] This only had two tracks underneath the bridge and was 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, but in 1877, with the opening of the new (and present) station in York, this was increased to six lines.

[7][4] Installation of the current bridge started in 1910, and consists of over 450 tonnes (500 tons) of steel and 350 cubic yards (270 m3) of concrete.

[17][18] During the electrification works on the East Coast Main Line (when overhead wires were laid out between Peterborough and Edinburgh) in the late 1980s, Holgate Bridge was jacked up to provide clearance underneath the bridge to enable the wires to be installed.

[24] The name of Holgate Bridge was known before the arrival of the railways, as it was the marker point in the 14th and 15th centuries where the Liberty of York extended to on its western side.