The government promises a giant bridge on the E39 and the improvement of the “most dangerous road in Norway” – NRK Vestland

The great debate on the road project in western Norway sparks strong feelings and great commitment.

Time and again, the government has promised to improve the landslide-prone E16 between Voss and Bergen, but the local population has been disappointed time and again.

The giant bridge of the E39 south of Bergen is also our battle.

Now the government is beating the drum and setting aside money to start both parts of the new national transportation plan.

• Hordfast: There will be a new E39 between Ådland and Svegatjørn. It reduces the travel time between Stord and Os by almost an hour, that is to half an hour. It will cost NOK 37.7 billion.
• E16 Bergen-Voss: There will be a new road and rail on the E16 highly prone to landslides between Arna and Stanghelle. They must be built at approximately the same time. The estimated cost is a total of NOK 26.4 billion: NOK 12.7 billion for railways and NOK 13.7 billion for roads. The pieces must be financed through tolls.

The full 2022-2033 transportation plan will be presented before Easter and is about which road and rail projects will get money and be built in the next few years.

The question is how fast can you see the project in motion. For example, the government does not dare to say any specific year of start-up.

– Completely historical

– Our investment in transport is completely historic, says Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H).

She admits that it is a great promise that she comes with.

– Someone will say that we have promised before. Yes, it’s been a long time with these projects. They’ve put in a lot of plans, but now we’re closer to making them come true, says Solberg.

She notes that Hordfast “has turned the penalty round in reducing its costs,” making it doable.

– For all those who have said we must choose between one or the other: the government intends to do both, says the Prime Minister.

You must plan for two scenarios

Solberg is a record of the synergy effects of building a road and a railway at the same time between Bergen and Voss, a section that is one of the worst roads in Norway.

– This applies, among other things, to the mutual use of evacuation tunnels. If we build roads and railways at the same time, there is a lot to save, says Solberg.

The E16 between Arna and Stanghelle is a priority for commissioning for the next six years.

The Prime Minister says that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration should plan two scenarios: one for full development and one that takes into account alternative plans with phased development, where one starts with the replacement of the road first.

– If you start with the construction of the road first, it does not mean that you have parked the railroad, but the railroad can arrive with a delay of one or two years in the actual implementation, says Solberg.

1 billion to Hordfast over the next six years

As regards Hordfast, the Prime Minister is aware that Bergen and Sunnhordland are being built closer together.

It is the largest and most expensive subproject in the vision of an E39 without ferries along the coast.

The unprecedented four-lane motorway and floating bridge will replace three ferry connections and reduce travel time from Bergen to Stavanger and Haugesund.

– We are building a stronger housing and labor market for this region, says the Prime Minister.

But you only see a billion kronor plus tolls to Hordfast for the next six years.

However, Solberg rates Hordaland as one of the winners of the overall new national transportation plan.

– These are big projects to be implemented.

– Expensive projects

Together with Minister for Climate and Environment Sveinung Rotevatn (V) and Minister for Development Dag Inge Ulstein (KrF), Solberg stresses that both are very expensive projects that must be co-financed by tolls.

– There is a lot of commitment around the project, and there is a good reason for it, says Rotevatn, who is aware that the railway is being built together with the E16 road.

– This will be a solid push that will be seen in gong for Hordaland, says the minister.

Ulstein says the E16 development is vital for those who live in the area.

The sub-project between Arna-Stanghelle is particularly prone to landslides and there have been many landslides and traffic jams on the stretch over the years.

Last fall, several hundred cars participated in a procession and rally against another launch.

Choice mode

Four years have passed since the previous transportation plan was submitted. Transport and Communications Minister Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) has previously said that he will make changes to the plan and cut off speech on the project. The goal is to come up with a more realistic plan.

But it was not the Minister of Transport who presented the leak of the new transport plan no.

In the city, it was the first on the list for the Hordaland parliamentary elections who were left behind.

– Knut Arild has done a great job, says Solberg.

Riots around Hordfast

E16 Arna-Voss has our first choice for Vestland County Council. Last spring, they first said no to prioritizing Hordfast, but Sunnhordland’s ire and threats to pull out of the county led the county council to keep promoting E39 without ferries, not to mention Hordfast.

The Norwegian Society for Conservation of Nature is against the Hordfast project, which they believe is bad news for the climate, salt marshes and coastal landscapes. They noted in January that the highway project will not help reduce climate emissions in Norway.

The state administrator in western Norway has called Hordfast the largest invasion of nature in Hordaland in modern times.

The Minister of Climate and Environment, Sveinung Rotevatn, on the other hand, has spoken positively about the project.

“I have taken enough ferries in my life to be positive on most bridge projects,” he told NRK in June of last year.