When asked which transport project the westerners will prioritize, the answer is clear. 70 per cent of those asked want a new and better road on the E16 between Bergen and Voss. 11 percent want a ferry-free road between Stord and Os (Hordfast). This is revealed in a survey carried out by Norstat on behalf of news. – The Bergen-Voss stretch is dangerous and can, in the worst case, take lives. Vegans across Stord towards Haugesund and Stavanger are good, believes trailer driver Gisle Fotland, resident on Osterøy outside Bergen. Gisle Fotland likes the break he gets on the ferry. Photo: Olav Røli / news news meets him on the ferry that runs between Halhjem and Sandvikvåg on the E39. 45 minutes across the fjord, he gave time for a break in the journey between Bergen and Stord, and a total journey time of two hours. If Hordfast is realised, he will reach almost all of Stavanger at the same time. Without ferries. But this is not the most important thing for him. – Lots of people commute along the E16, including children. And then the answer to what I must prioritize is clear to me, he says. E16 connects Oslo with Bergen. This is not an unusual sight, and now Westerners want progress in the work on the new road. Photo: Karl Martin Valestrand Hordfast: – Utopi Both projects are huge transport projects with sky-high price tags. Hordfast is cost calculated at almost NOK 46 billion. The new E16 between Arna and Stanghelle will cost 30.1 billion, according to the Norwegian Road Administration. The E16 between Bergen and Voss has been referred to as the worst road in Norway. It is also the most landslide-prone European road in the whole of Norway. – Bergen-Voss is a crisis road. It must be prioritized, Hordfast is utopia. Kraftsalva comes from Audhild Halvorsen Hesjedal, who is a member of the party Høgre i Kvinnherad. The Stord-Os (Hordfast) project is one of the largest transport projects in Norway. At the same time, it is also one of the most discussed, and among the most expensive. Both natural encroachment and a bridge of more than five kilometers have seen their anger boil. – The voters from Høgre see that life is more important than getting there faster, she believes A cup of coffee on the ferry tastes good to Audhild Halvorsen Hesjedal. She calls the whole of Hordfast a utopia, and thinks E16 must be given priority. Photo: Olav Røli / news Commuters say no Commuters news meets on the ferry also want a new E16 before Hordfast. – E16 is a very bad road. Besides, I don’t want to destroy the fjord with a bridge, says Selina Sæle. She often commutes between Bjørnafjorden municipality and Høgskulen på Vestlandet in Stord. She is a nursing student there. – I am against Hordfast, at least as the solution is now, she says. Inger Pedersen and Ida van der Hagen from Stord will commute to Bergen for two years to become midwives. They had wished for a bridge instead of a ferry. Selina Sæle, Vilde Rynning, Hallgeir Helgesen are all on their way from Os in Bjørnafjorden and to Stord for school. They think the ferry is good, and do not want to destroy the fjord with a bridge. Ole Morten Simonsen is a trailer driver. He believes there are worse roads in Norway than the E16 between Bergen and Voss. But agree that something needs to be done there. Tore Greve and Olav Annaniassen like each other on the ferry between Halhjem and Sandvikvåg. Greve thinks you should build Hordfast, while Olav wants E16 first. I think this is a clear order for Støre In the political environment, the result of the investigation is not surprising. – This is a clear signal to the Storting and government to deliver on E16, says Stian Davies, county mayoral candidate for Ap in Vestland. He believes that it is natural that life and health are at the top of the priority list for Westerners. – For Vestland Ap, a new road and track between Bergen and Voss is the most important thing. It’s about life and health, he says. Within the Labor Party in Western Norway, there has been clear opposition to Hordfast. At the annual meeting last winter, a majority wanted to bring forward another route selection, and drop the heavy bridge. – Right now, the Minister of Transport is clear that it is not relevant. But we have to work to make the project both cheaper and with less interference with nature, says Davies. A bridge of around 5 kilometers will make the road between Stavanger and Bergen ferry-free. Photo: Norwegian Public Roads Administration Will build both parts Life Kari Eskeland (H), Hordfast supporter and member of the transport and communications committee in the Storting, is not surprised by the result either. – Here you ask what you want to prioritize at the top, and not what you want to prioritize as project number two, she says. Eskeland believes that both the new E16 and Hordfast can be built, and that it is now Western Norway’s turn to get new roads. – What are you going to get the money for? – We will now have a good discussion in the Storting about the next National Transport Plan. Hordfast is a ferry replacement project, which means that money spent on ferry operations today will go to the project, she says. She thinks no to Hordfast means that money instead goes to other places in the country. – Not many people want to go back to the time before we got the Triangular Connection and a new road between Bergen and Os, she adds. Around 200,000 passenger car units were transported across the fjord between Halhjem and Sandvikvåg on the E39 in July. Photo: Olav Røli / news
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Westerners want new E16 rather than E39 Hordfast – news Vestland
