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For 40 years, the people of Røa have been waiting for a tunnel. This fall, the money set aside to carry out the plans suddenly disappeared.
– People are getting disappointed, me too, says Anne Bjørnebye Vik, leader of Røa Vel, whom Nettavisen meets at the intersection in the middle of the day on a busy Wednesday.
For more than 40 years, residents have dreamed of a tunnel under one of Oslo’s busiest road junctions, the Røa junction. Now the planning of the tunnel was finally going to start, but then in September, the Oslo city hall got off the ground.
The idea of a tunnel under the Røa crossing came about when the bridge over the Lysaker River between Bærum East and Oslo connected two central roads in 1975. Since the tunnel idea became a plan in the early 1980s, it has gone through almost innumerable political processes.
Also in Manglerud, there is boiling frustration over the tunnel stop by the city council.
Investigated for 40 years
In 1998, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration finally launched a preliminary project to realize the tunnel plans. And now, 22 years later, the city council has produced a new study of the Oslo budget.
The Røa area is growing rapidly, in line with the municipality’s ambition to consolidate itself along the public transport axes. Several hundred new apartments are planned in the areas around the capital’s westernmost known intersection, which means at least 1500-2000 more inhabitants within walking distance of the Røa intersection.
(See the video of the interview with Anne Bjørnebye vik).
One of the reasons the studies have been online is that it is unclear whether the tunnel will be long or short – the Røa tunnel has been a topic for various KVUs. (KVU = konseptvalgutredning, red.anm.) from various agencies since 2005.
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A short variant will require an extensive expropriation of the property on the east side of the tunnel exit. It will further delay the construction process, the leader of Røa Vel fears:
– They can only choose one long tunnel at a time. There’s no reason to spend a lot of time on it, he says.
Cut the budget
The Oslo budgets contain a four-year program of action that is adjusted year after year. In the 2019 budget, the Røa tunnel was allocated with a total of NOK 175 million for the period 2021-2024.
In the 2021 budget proposal, however, the tunnel plans were erased at a stroke and replaced for a total of NOK 14.5 million in the same period.
The tunnel plan for Røa is part of Oslo Package 3, the comprehensive transport plan for road traffic and public transport solutions in the Oslo area. It is well known that there are lines of conflict here, especially the controversy over E18.
On the busy traffic route between Bærum East and Oslo West, Røa is the big bottleneck. The response of the Environment Council (see further down in the article) makes it clear that this particular bottleneck is not at the top of the priority list of political leaders.
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The contract was reduced to 50 million, without explanation.
In a June 2020 decision, the Oslo City Council requested that the City Council determine the choice of the concept for the Røa Tunnel during 2021. Nicolai Øyen Langfeldt (Conservative Party), Vice Chairman of the City Council’s Environment and Transport Committee, fears without However new postponements:
– The City Council cannot use Oslo package 3 of cross policies as an à la carte menu. It is essential that the Røa tunnel be built. They must tie in with the entire deal, Langfeldt tells Nettavisen.
Meanwhile, the municipality announced a major contract and abruptly withdrew it.
On July 1, 2020, the city of Oslo, through the Urban Environment Agency, submitted a preliminary project to tender. The tender was for a NOK 50 million contract to “prepare a preliminary project with a technical basis and a cost estimate in a life perspective for two tunnel concepts”, as stated in the tender document.
Sweco was one of the consulting firms that wanted to compete for the assignment, and several of the firm’s employees canceled their summer vacation to get the offer at the port on time, writes bygg.no. In September, Sweco received this short message from the Urban Environment Agency:
– We only have this sentence. I’m completely speechless, Sweco CEO Grete Aspelund tells bygg.no, adding:
– It is becoming a high-risk sport to deliver offers to some public actors.
Also read: Residents have been waiting for the tunnel for 25 years. Now the conservatives ask the opponent for help
– A declaration of war in progress
– It’s an ignorant way of treating the Oslo business community, says Langfeldt.
The Oslo 3 package was renegotiated in 2016, and then it was decided to start construction in 2021, notes the conservative politician:
– The city council has not dealt with that. There has been an ongoing declaration of war over the years.
In front of bygg.no, the Urban Environment Agency is passing the buck to the city council and explains the cancellation precisely by saying that the allocations for the Røa report disappeared in September.
This is how Lan Marie Berg (MDG), Councilor for the Environment and Transport, explains that the contract was canceled:
– When the city council made its decision in June this year, it was not decided that there would not be a renegotiation of the Oslo 3 package this year, which could have resulted in higher toll rates and more revenue.
It didn’t happen until September, Berg notes:
– Then the Labor Party and the Conservative Party in Viken joined forces and crossed the western corridor E18, a highway that will increase climate emissions and create traffic jams in Oslo. The contest was canceled when it became clear that we will not be receiving increased toll revenue.
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Debts on revenue from lost tolls
According to Berg, the degradation of the Røa tunnel is due to lack of toll financing. Those 175 million were suddenly removed from the budget, he explains as follows:
– The original order was based on the expectation of significantly higher revenues from the toll network. The money for planning comes from Oslo’s package 3 and the toll ring, where there has been a dramatic drop in revenue, which is due to fewer people driving and more people switching to electric cars.
At the end of the day, it is due to a successful climate policy, notes the city council, which does not miss the opportunity to blame the political opposition.
– The Conservatives, sadly, have not wanted higher toll rates, so we have less money for public transport initiatives in Oslo, bicycle projects and the Røa project.
– Must postpone many plans
– Conservative transport politician Nicolai Langfeldt tells Nettavisen that the city council is fleeing its obligations on Oslo package 3 by pushing the Røa tunnel into the uncertain, as the tunnel is part of the package. Why does the City Council prioritize a project that will provide a better environment and less pollution in an area that is developing strongly in line with the political ambitions of densification along the public transport axes?
– There are many projects that are not financed because the Conservatives do not want higher toll rates, including the Majorstua station and many tram projects. We have not prioritized the work with Røa, but related to the financial framework and the city council’s decision to present a case to the city council regarding the choice of the Røakrysset concept by the end of 2021.
– They have to come here and see how it is
In 2021, the city council will find out which tunnel concept achieves the city council’s goal of reducing traffic and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while also providing a good traffic solution for Røa, the city council notes.
– When can the inhabitants of Røa expect the tunnel to be built, and what reason do they have to believe that it will actually be built, after another postponement?
– The course of time for a good traffic solution for Røa will depend on what kind of decision the city council makes in choosing the concept in 2021.
The desire to make the ever-growing car traffic underground is getting stronger. But the constant postponements have long frustrated residents, and faith in politicians is not universal:
– We have repeatedly invited Councilor Lan Marie Berg here, but there is no interest. Politicians should come here and see for themselves what it’s like to live here with this through the traffic thundering through the intersection all day, says Anne Bjørnebye Vik.
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