With a total length exceeding 600 m, 340 m of which stretches over water, it is one of the major bridges in Stockholm, offering one of the most panoramic views of the central part of the city centering on Gamla stan, the old town.

Its inauguration on 20 November 1935 made it the second stationary connection between the southern and northern parts of the city, saving the citizens the effort of a ferry ride, which had previously been required, or the congested detour through Gamla stan.

With its west-eastern direction, this section stretches some 243 m over the parc Rålambshovsparken from the roundabout at Västerbroplan to Drottningholmsvägen, the major traffic route leading to the western suburbs.

[2] The first proposal for a bridge connecting Kungsholmen with Långholmen was made in 1903 when plans to relocate the main northern railway passing through Stockholm to the west of the central city were discussed.

Much of the north-southern traffic flow through the old city centre remained confined to the bridge until the inauguration in 1966 of Essingeleden, the motorway running parallel to Västerbron about 1.5 km to the west.

From its opening Västerbron was an important passageway of Stockholm’s tram network until the last four lines of the network, one of them line 4 crossed over Västerbron, was closed in September 1967 simultaneously with the switch to right-hand side traffic.In August 1993 a JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft crashed on Långholmen only a few meters from the bridge after a low altitude, low speed manoeuvre during an air show.

The singer and actress Monica Zetterlund (1937–2005) mentions the bridge in one of her major hits Sakta vi gå genom stan (Swedish cover of Walking My Baby Back Home) in the now famous lyrics written by Beppe Wolgers: På Västerbron, i den himmelska ron, en spårvagn går ensam och tom.

In March 2008, Anders Göthberg, guitarist in the Swedish cult indie band Broder Daniel committed suicide by jumping off the bridge.

The Swedish Alternative Rock band Kent filmed parts of the music video for their breakthrough single Kräm (så nära får ingen gå) on Västerbron in 1996.