Tourists from all over the world make the pilgrimage to see the unique view on Stegastein 640 meters above the Aurlandsfjord in Sogn. But the national tourist road up to the plateau is narrow, steep and winding. Few meeting places mean that motorhomes and tourist buses have to back up a long way and lie down on the edge of the road to pass each other. Often things go wrong. In the last week, the Swedish Traffic Agency has reported daily about chaotic conditions on the road. Several times they have had to close the road to get the ball out of the chaos. LATEST: Also on Wednesday afternoon, the fire service was called out after a car drove off the road, reports 110 Vest. Want more meeting places and car protection Last week, 6-7 people had to hold a car to prevent it from rolling down the steep mountainside. Now the fire chief in Aurland, Reinhardt Sørensen, is tired of incidents like this and wants something done soon. – I hope we can introduce some measures along the way, he says. The measures Sørensen is talking about are, among other things, more meeting places and car protection. As it stands now, there are several places along the road where a small concrete edge is the only thing standing between the road and the hundreds of meters down to the fjord. Throughout the summer, the lookout post at Stegastein is filled with tourists. Photo: Ole Kristian Svalheim / news Long alternative detour Dina Lefdal, department director for infrastructure and roads in Vestland county municipality, says that no concrete plans have yet been made to improve the road to Stegastein. But as the fire chief, he also sees a need to improve the road. The Stegastein viewing platform on the national tourist route over the mountain between Aurland and Lærdal is a lovely destination for many. Photo: Ole Kristian Svalheim / news Until the road is improved, Lefdal hopes for a short-term solution that can improve traffic. – We would have liked more people to drive over the mountain, rather than drive both up and down the road, she says. Driving over Aurlandsfjellet via Lærdal to get back to Aurlandsvangen is a 77 kilometer trip that takes about an hour and a half. The road between Aurlandsvangen and Stegastein, on the other hand, is only 13 kilometers long. Cars in all directions try to find parking at the popular tourist destination. Photo: Ole Kristian Svalheim / news Fien van Hacke from the Netherlands has taken the trip up to the lookout post with his family. – Sometimes the children were worried, but it went well, she says about the narrow road the family had to drive. Also in the past, one-way driving on the road has been considered. Other measures that have been considered are hourly driving and bans on certain cars. Lefdal at the county council points to the fact that roads like this are being marketed as national tourist roads, at the same time as they are not suitable for a lot of traffic. – This is a narrow road that was not built for the traffic that is there, she says. HÅRFIN PARKING: That’s how close the German van came to tipping over the edge during the holiday trip in Aurland in 2019. Photo: Anders Frydenlund / Vang Auto-Service AS
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Full chaos on a narrow tourist road – news Vestland
