– We encourage motorists who are going out for a drive to take it easy, calculate their time and keep a good distance to the car in front so that you don’t run into it during braking, says Hans Are Dahl, traffic operator at Vegtrafikksentralen Øst. The second real snowfall of the winter fell over Østfold on the night of Wednesday. This has caused major traffic problems. A great many wagon trains have struggled on the smooth last night and in the morning hours on Wednesday. Especially on the E6, heavy traffic has had problems. A truck train in trouble on the exit ramp to Svinesundparken has created very long queues on the E6. Photo: Stein Ove Korneliussen/news Along the motorway between the border at Svinesund and Sarpsborg, truck trains without chains have blocked exit ramps and stood along the shoulder of the road. – Those that create the most challenge for other motorists are lorry trains. Large vehicles that simply get stuck. When you encounter such an obstacle, it is difficult to pass, says Dahl. The roads have been so slippery that the police have felt compelled to warn Swedish commuters. According to the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten, Norwegian police have stood on the Swedish side of the Svinesund Bridge and warned road users about the snow chaos on Norwegian roads. The biggest problems are now in the northbound direction. Traffic is almost at a standstill between Svinesundparken in Halden and the exit to Skjeberg in Sarpsborg. Expecting to complete 100 assignments Redningsverket AS has been very busy since midnight. So far, they have had over 50 assignments in Østfold alone today. They expect a doubling of this during the day. The missions have mostly consisted of starting assistance and recovery after downhill runs. – Now it’s a combination of slippery roads and cold. We weren’t prepared for it to be so busy because there wasn’t much rainfall reported, but we are always prepared to be able to get around quickly when something like this happens, says Håvard Hoel, operations manager for light recovery and transport. Hoel expects a doubling of assignments during the day, and says that people have to be prepared for waiting times of up to three hours. – Some get help faster, while others have to wait a little. We call all customers when the assignments come in and inform them of the waiting time to find out if they can leave the key to do other things, then we will take the car away in the meantime. The queue on the E6 persists, even though the morning rush hour is over. Photo: Stein Ove Korneliussen/news All crews are out The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has had all available plowing crews out last night and in the morning hours. – What we have experienced today is that there have been roads that have been covered in snow and ice. It has become quite polished, and then the driving conditions have become challenging because the tires have not got grip, says traffic operator Dahl. The police have also warned motorists about driving on the motorway. Operations manager Terje Nordang encourages all motorists to allow extra time. – It is still slippery in some places. Especially on E6. There is still reason to take it cautiously, says Nordang. Meteorologist surprised – There are certainly not large amounts of snow that fell last night. People must be prepared for larger amounts throughout the winter, but now people may have had a wake-up call, says state meteorologist Rafael Escobar Løvdahl. There was between 2 and 4 millimeters of rain in Østfold during the night to Wednesday. This corresponds to 5–6 centimeters of snow. In comparison, it was well over 30 cm in several places in North-West Norway. The meteorologist is surprised that the flow has caused such major problems. – The surprising since this was not the first snowfall this year, so I thought people had changed to winter tyres. But it is easy to forget, says Løvdahl.
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Major traffic problems in Østfold after snowfall – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
