It is the new E39 between Kristiansand and Mandal that opened today. New Roads, which has been responsible for the construction, believes that the road with four lanes and three meter shoulders is safer than the old one. – Now we can offer people in the area a traffic-safe road, says project manager Harald J. Solvik. The old road has a history of many fatal accidents. The four-lane road is 19 kilometers long and has a speed limit of 110 kilometers per hour. – On the stretch between Kristiansand and Mandal, which is a total of 26 kilometers long, the journey time will be halved. Before it took 50 minutes. Now it will take 25, says Solvik. The road consists, among other things, of four bridges and five tunnels. At just over four kilometres, the search tunnel will be the longest in Southern Norway. The bridge over the Trysfjorden in Søgne must have a span in excess of what is possible when it comes to a four-lane road. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news Aerial photo Four toll stations There will be four toll stations on the stretch. With a subscription, it will cost NOK 72. Without a subscription, it costs NOK 90. For electric cars, the price will be NOK 36. Opening kept secret In advance, the time of opening was kept secret to prevent many cars on the road at the same time. Motorist and commuter Louise Henriksen, who was the second person to drive on the newly opened road, was surprised. – It is absolutely fantastic. I didn’t think the road would open yet, she says to news. That it will be more expensive now, she thinks is natural. – I think it has to be. Building a road is not free. Louise Henriksen says she uses the road often because she commutes to work. Photo: Anna Rut Tørresen / news The road will be officially opened on 9 December. Then Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård comes to cut the cord. The road construction has taken over four years and has cost over NOK 4.5 billion. Here, the first cars are loaded onto the new road Thursday Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news The continuation is to be completed In May, the continuation of the road from Mandal and westwards to Lyngdal was put on hold indefinitely. The reason was dramatic price increases as a result of the situation with war, fuel and electricity prices. At the end of September, however, word came that the project was to be realised.
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Halving the travel time between Kristiansand and Mandal – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
