The proposed modification of the National Transport Plan is taking its toll

The proposal to change Norway’s main transportation plan is actually an idea from FRP, says Knut Arild Hareide. FRP responds by calling the proposal a declaration of war.

Several planned highway and highway projects will be canceled or postponed. This was announced by the Minister of Transport Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) in Aftenposten. The government will radically change the National Transportation Plan (PNT). NTP is the Storting’s plan for the construction of roads, railways, airports and ports.

Projects that have been included in NTP are considered “safe”. When the plan is reviewed now, all large projects out of the queue will be “unsafe”. Even projects that are now “safe” can become “unsafe,” Hareide warns.

Now there are strong reactions to Hareide’s proposal.

FRP: – A declaration of war

– We agree with the principle of portfolio management and making the most of money, as managed by Nye Veier, but the announcement that several NTP projects will be withdrawn is a declaration of war against us.

This is what Bård Hoksrud, transport policy spokesperson at Frp.

– Hareide follows up on what he announced when he became Transport Minister. A shift from road construction to a focus on weather, public transportation, and less capacity for cars.

He believes that the compromise around the E18 west of Oslo is an example of this.

– Motorists who have to pay for a new road should expect to be more aligned, he says.

– NTP is ambitious. But it’s about the willingness to spend money. Our ambition to build double lanes throughout the Intercity is on the right track. But costs must come down, Hoksrud says.

Labor: – Hareide has taken over a bankrupt estate

– The government itself presented an unrealistic NTP in 2017. With all the price increases on planned projects, it has in practice taken over a bankrupt estate, says Sverre Myrli.

He is the Labor Party’s transportation policy spokesperson.

– Hareide’s challenge is ours too. We need to look at the promises made in the past. We should probably think more in the direction of portfolio management. But all road and rail construction should not be completely out of political control, Myrli says.

It will not comment on specific projects.

– This will be a dog fight. But we are very much in favor of building double lanes in Intercity. And we will prioritize projects that help reduce climate emissions and provide protection against landslides and tunnels, he says.

SV: – Frp has seduced Hareide

– Knut Arild Hareide has gotten into a corner with crazy highway investments. He’s seduced by speed-loving and asphalt-horned predecessors Ketil Solvik-Olsen and Jon Georg Dale.

This is what Arne Nævra, Transport Policy Spokesperson at SV says.

– We need to think more seriously about the size of the roads, such as towards Kristiansand and Stavanger. When planning a highway alongside a new railroad, the track should take precedence. This applies to the Ringerik line.

He thinks it’s tragic if Intercity is more exposed now.

– Only trains that in the future can handle all those who go to work in the cities, he says.

On the New Roads model that Hareide will follow, Nævra says:

– I understand the desire for freedom and room for maneuver offered by the model. But we run the risk of a kind of wind policy on land, where the municipalities put the knife to their throat. If they disagree with the solutions, they are told that they can feel good.

Q: – It is around the cities where it has arisen

– Prioritizing is very important. But it may appear that projects in rural areas are being stifled at the expense of large cost overruns on projects in larger cities.

That’s what Sps Siv Mossleth says.

– In the north, roads like E6 are often the soul. There are areas where there are no detour options. We see that Nye Veier proposes minimal solutions. If this affects traffic safety, it’s a short-term mindset, he says.

– Projects have often sprung up around big cities, Mossleth believes.

– South of Helgeland, there were 10 kilometers of road left that will not be updated, because a plot had exceeded the budget by 160 million. While an incredible amount of money is spent on the E18 west of Oslo. It’ll be wrong, says Mossleth.

ODM: – Become an accountant

– Cutting on the railroad is a priority for the highway. In the future, this prioritization will have huge consequences for climate emissions, encroachment on nature, business and society.

This is what the Vice President of the ODM, Vice President Kriss Rokkan Iversen says.

– Hareide just looks at what this costs the state in the short term. He becomes an accountant. What we need is a visionary and forward-thinking Minister of Transport, he says.

– It is provocative that he threatens to cut the Northern Norway line and the Intercity. For thousands of train travelers in eastern Norway, this is a tragedy. They have already been waiting for decades, he says.

– The EU will have half of all long-distance transport by sea or rail by 2050. Should we continue to dream of autonomous trailers on winding coastal roads ?, asks MP Kriss Rokkan Iversen.

Viken Leader: Smoking disagrees with Hareide

– People are already online and eager to find solutions. We expect massive population growth in the eastern region in the coming years. And the climate crisis must be resolved now. None of these challenges are solved passively.

This is what Tonje Brenna (Labor Party), county council leader in Viken and central in the Østlandssamarbeidet organization says.

– That is why we totally disagree with the Government’s signals. The interurban initiative cannot wait, as the Minister of Transport and Communications is now sending signals, he says.

We are concerned that the level of ambition for the development of Intercity will be lowered.

NAF: – The NTP debate is wrong

– Discussing whether every bridge or ferry dock should be widened is the wrong place to start. The NTP debate should be about how everyone in this country should have an equal opportunity to move. How does NTP respond to this? How does it contribute to the construction of society? asks the head of the NAF, Stig Skjøstad.

He believes that it is essential that the roads we have today are maintained.

OFV: – There must be more roads in Norway

– There should be more cost control. But we must not run away from our ambitions. There must be more roads in Norway. In particular, the section between east and west should work better. It must also be the Oslofjord connection between Akershus and Drammen.

Here’s what Siri Hov Eggen, head of department at the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV), says.