E16 on Filefjell opened: the goal is to never close for the winter – NRK Innlandet – Local News, TV and Radio

For body music, the Minister of Transportation cut the strings. Thus, the new road from Øye to Eidsbru has been opened through the Rødøl tunnel.

– This is a great day. The opening of roads is the best thing a mayor can participate in, says Mayor Vidar Eltun of Vang Municipality.

Forty miles of new highway that was 10 percent cheaper than planned.

– Finally!

Seija Kumpula and her family live on a farm in the center of Øye. To this day, traffic has passed only 50 meters from her house. Kumpula says they are among the lucky ones in Øye who have had barns and dwellings on the same side of the road, because someone has to cross the street between their buildings.

– It was really crazy. We have lived here for about 15 years and have seen a huge increase in the last few years. It’s no fun living so close to such a busy highway.

She is incredibly relieved that the new highway, which bypasses the city center, has finally opened now.

– You can bet! We have been waiting for this for a long time. We may not have thought what would happen in our life. It is so good to let the sound go and at the same time I am very happy that my three young children now have a safer way to school, she says.

Safe winter trail

– We know this is the safest winter road we have between east and west over the mountains, says Knut Arild Hareide, Minister of Transport.

This is also stated by Odd Erik Haugen, who is a project manager at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and is responsible for the development of the E16 on Filefjell.

For the last three winters, this road between eastern and western Norway was driven by columns or closed for a total of 130 hours.

On the other roads between Oslo and Bergen, there are 779 closing hours or column at Hemsedalsfjellet, 1681 hours at Haukelifjell and 1066 hours at Strynefjellet.

When other roads are closed, there has been a lot of pressure on the section over Filefjell. This has resulted in many rescue assignments. Now you probably won’t have to close the new E16 in winter.

– Now it has become a wider and slower road, so we avoid all the salvage assignments that close the road in winter, says Odd Erik Haugen.

Great importance

The Minister of Transport and Communications and Mayor Vidar Eltun agree that this route will be important to many.

– We can work both in the west and in the east. The cabin people we depend on have a shorter path to their cabin. And of course, for the locals, it means an incredible amount, says Eltun.

It is also gratifying to the Minister that the project was finally priced at NOK 344 billion. Which is 350 million less than expected.

– This is in contrast to many other projects. It gives us the opportunity to spend money on other transportation projects, says Hareide.

– Are you going to invest even more in the section between Oslo and Bergen then?

– I will drive all the way between Oslo and Bergen today and I see that there is still a great need. This is something that we are considering in the next national transport plan, says the minister.

Ten year project

The road project on the 40 km stretch over Filefjell has been divided into four parts. And it hasn’t been on rails the whole time.

According to the project manager, Odd Erik Haugen, the funding was first postponed for a year and the start-up was postponed until 2016. Subsequently, the collaboration with the Spanish company Aldesa failed. They were supposed to take over the electrical work on the tunnel, but were replaced after more than a year of delay in the works. Mesta Elektro was inside and corrected the deficiencies so they could open.

Haugan says they are now working on new forms of contract for the future so that they can more easily guarantee the quality of the contractors they work with.

But he was a very happy mayor when the cord was finally cut at the inauguration.

– This has not come by itself, it has been a tough fight. The entire Filefjell project has taken ten years. Thank you very much to everyone who took the initiative, she says.