The case in summary • Mayor of Storfjord municipality, Geir Varvik, demands safer roads in northern Norway after experiencing dangerous situations with boulders on the road.• Several road projects in the municipality need upgrading, including the section Nordkjosbotn – Oteren on the E6/E8, E8 at the national border to Finland and an older tunnel on the E6.• Regional director of NHO Arctic, Sigrid Ina Simonsen, believes that Northern Norway should be prioritized in the National Transport Plan (NTP) to promote business development.• Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård recognizes the disadvantages of distance in the north, but believes that the priorities must be assessed over a longer period of time. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – We must demand that our roads become chewed up. It cannot be the case that road users in the north have to watch for boulders rolling towards the road. That’s what the mayor of Storfjord municipality in Troms, Geir Varvik (H), says. Last summer he came driving on the E6 between home and work, just after a huge boulder had reached the road. This is what it looked like after the stone block had hit the main road in Nord-Troms. Photo: Hallgeir Naimak / news A video taken on the other side of the fjord showed that the boulder had come loose and rolled several hundred meters down the mountainside. The mayor says that they have been fighting for several years to build a tunnel on the accident-prone stretch. – Must stop removing priority roads It is not the only road project on the European road in the municipality that needs upgrading. The two-mile long section Nordkjosbotn – Oteren on the E6/E8 was transferred to Nye Veier two years ago. After many years of struggle, the stretch was finally to be prioritized. The champagne was popped. Now the waiting time is at least six years, according to Varvik. The mountain crossing on the E8 towards the Finnish border and an older tunnel in an area prone to landslides on the E6 have also been in and out of NTP. – NTP must be the planning body in this country that has the worst durability. One day you are high on the list. The following year you have to find the grave beer, because you are as far along as you were ten years before. Thinks the infrastructure hinders development Sigrid Ina Simonsen, regional director of NHO Arctic, believes that it is now Northern Norway’s turn to be prioritized in NTP. – I would say that our transport challenge is one of the biggest bottlenecks we have. Then I think about the infrastructure we have on road, track, port, flight route. – All the communication channels we have are bottlenecks for growth in business. Figures show that Troms and Finnmark in the current period only get 1.2 per cent of 1,200 billion in the National Transport Plan (NTP). – It may seem that we need to be much clearer in our orders to central authorities, says Ina Sigrid Simonsen. Photo: Per Inge A. Åsen / news Simonsen believes that a transport boost will give business in the north better conditions. – We only have 9 percent of the population. Must arguments be much stronger to get through large transport projects in the north? – If we had at least 9 per cent of the transport budget, we would probably be satisfied. But we are not far from that goal, says Simonsen. – Dimensioned for a different time There are many narrow, landslide-prone and traffic-dangerous roads in Northern Norway. – We have an E10 that is designed for a different time, says Line Samuelsen, general manager of Destination Lofoten. – If they come to our guests by boat, then in a way it is E10 that becomes the bottleneck, says Line Samuelsen. Photo: John Inge Johansen She describes E10 as the pulse of Lofoten. Where there is a lot of traffic. Samuelsen points out that several lorries from the fishing industry drive on the road every day. It is also used a lot by tourists in large numbers who visit the region. – Tourism will increase. Then we think that we have to be prioritized in Lofoten as well. Acknowledging the disadvantages of distance Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård was recently in Tromsø to get input from the politicians and the business community in the north for the next NTP. Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) acknowledges that Northern Norway has different distance disadvantages than the rest of the country. Photo: Christine Breivik Øen He believes that when looking at the type of resources society spends on infrastructure, it must be measured over a long period of time. – Looking at a single year to assess what is prioritized in a part of the country is probably a bit too simple. But I recognize that there are different distance disadvantages in the north than there are elsewhere, which can affect the priorities. The minister points out that there are several elements in the transport policy that are not included in the NTP. He refers to the FOT routes, for which the government recently gave an extra billion. – In addition, our ferry promise has been fulfilled with reduced ferry prices. So there are elements outside the NTP that have also benefited this part of the country, says Nygård. Asks for political strength Storfjord’s mayor is happy for NHO Arctic demands better roads in the north. Varvik asks colleagues to do the same. – I think that if you have a priority list for infrastructure plans, then follow it. If we are to think socio-economically, no road will be built in the north. But if people are to live here, we politicians must work together towards this as a common goal.
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Escape huge boulders with a cry of distress – requires safer roads – news Troms and Finnmark
