The matter in summary Businessman Erik Berg in Molde wants to take over the Trollstigen to prevent a long-term closure. He has partners who are ready to prepare the road for next season and introduce tolls. County mayor Anders Riise (H) says that the county council can foot the bill alone to open the Trollstigen again until next year. Møre and Romsdal county council has already applied to start with tolls, which with a toll price of NOK 100 can generate around 50 million during the season. Erik Berg has not made formal contact with the county council or the county mayor, but says that the initiative is serious. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by journalists from news before publication. It is the businessman Erik Berg in Molde who is stepping into the breach to take over the Trollstigen. He thinks it is disastrous to close the internationally known area, and is afraid that the closure will be prolonged. Every year over a million tourists come to visit. This year there will be far fewer. – We live by making money. The Trollstigen is a product that is profitable to the very highest degree. If the state and the county do not do anything, it is certainly desirable that the private sector take over. Then the state and the county have shown that they cannot handle such a jewel, he says. The investor Erik Berg in Molde wants to take over the Trollstigen and collect tolls. Photo: Gunnar Sandvik/news He says he has several partners who are ready to help prepare the road for next season, and then take tolls from those who drive the Trollstigen. It was Romsdal’s Budstikke who told about what happened first. Promise that the millions will arrive now Although rocks have hit several cars on the Trollstigen in recent years, it has proved difficult to raise money for race protection. 50 million is needed. So far, no one has been willing to turn the page. County mayor Anders Riise (H) says they will be able to raise money for race safety themselves. Photo: Remi Sagen / news County mayor Anders Riise (H) now says that the county council will foot the bill if necessary and that Trollstigen will reopen next year. Riise is happy about the initiative from the investor in Molde. – It is good that he is helping to put pressure on the politicians in the county and in the state apparatus, but we must manage to get this money, says Riise. Earlier this week, transport minister Jon Ivar Nygård (Ap) was at an emergency meeting about the Trollstigen. He could not promise money. Transport Minister Jon Ivar Nygård visited Trollstigen earlier this week. Photo: Roar Jonny Strøm / news – The most unusual Trollstigen is one of the national tourist routes in the country. Silje Myhre Amundsen in the National Roads Administration says she has never before heard that people from the private business world have wanted to take over a National Tourist Road. – I have great understanding that there are many actors who want to open the Trollstigen, she says, and adds that she believes the county council and the state will manage it themselves. She says they will not say anything about the initiative until they possibly get a concrete inquiry on the table. Silje Myhre Amundsen is head of section for National Tourist Routes in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Photo: Frid-Jorunn Stabell, Norwegian Public Roads Administration Trollstigen: Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news Aerial photo Trollstigen is a mountain pass on county road 63 between the municipalities of Rauma and Fjord in Møre and Romsdal. The road connects Valldal on Sunnmøre with Åndalsnes in Romsdal. Tourists from all over the world are lured to the Trollstigen every year with its iconic, winding hairpins. Trollstigen is one of 18 National Tourist Routes. The road is 55 kilometers long and was officially opened on 31 June 1936. It has eleven hairpin bends. The highest point is 850 meters above sea level. The Trollstigen is closed for the winter every year and usually reopens for the season during May/June. Want to introduce tolls It’s not just the investors who want tourists to pay for themselves in Trollstigen. Møre and Romsdal county council has already applied to start with tolls. County mayor Anders Riise believes it will already be in place next year, and says a price of NOK 100 will generate around NOK 50 million during the season. It will then, among other things, go to breed protection. – This is so spectacular that I think the tourists will think it’s perfectly fine, he says. Sketches of the work that must be done in Trollstigen. Photo: Statens vegvesen / Møre og Romsdal County Council Ready if necessary Investor Erik Berg in Molde says he has not made formal contact with Møre og Romsdal County Council or the county mayor, but that the initiative is serious. – If neither the government nor the county manage to cough up 50 million to save the Trollstigen, the tourism industry and the business world will gladly step in and take over, says Erik Berg. For many tourists, Trollstigen and the surrounding mountains are a spectacular sight. Photo: Tore Ellingseter / news Published 29.06.2024, at 08.57
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Erik Berg in Molde will take over the Trollstigen to prevent closure – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
