– The state should take a much larger share of the costs of road safety on national tourist routes. That’s what Randi Frisvoll, who is the leader of the National Race Protection Group, says. Randi Frisvoll is head of the National Race Protection Group. They work to secure national and county roads against landslides. Photo: Jonas Otneim / news On Monday, stones once again tumble down the mountainside at Trollstigen in Møre og Romsdal. A rock almost as big as a football came through the window of a car. Frisvoll believes that more must now be done to secure both the Trollstigen and other roads against landslides, and that the state must step in. – We have to spend more money on avalanche protection. There is a lot more that can be done, but Møre and Romsdal county lacks the money to have a good enough avalanche protection as it is today. A stone tumbled down Trollstigen and hit a car on Monday. The stone ended up in the passenger seat. There was only a driver in the car, so no one was injured. Photo: Veidekke Asking the state to pay County mayor Anders Riise (H) confirms the lack of money. He says they have already used up the money they have for race insurance. – We expect the state to contribute more heavily. This is not a daily road that is used at other times of the year. It is a purely tourist road, and it is in the state’s interest that it is open to ensure value creation for the tourism businesses. Anders Riise from Høgre is county mayor in Møre and Romsdal. Photo: Remi Sagen / news Riise believes that the county should be responsible for securing and maintaining the same roads that the residents use on a daily basis. But that the responsibility for national tourist routes should be given to the state. – When it comes to national tourist routes, the state should take an overall financing solution. Especially in the situation the Trollstigen is in now, an extra permit should come here very quickly. The county municipality already asked last week for an urgent meeting with the prime minister, the transport minister and the industry minister to discuss this. news has confirmed that the Minister of Transport will come for a meeting on 26 June. These are Norway’s national tourist routes Varanger Havøysund Senja Andøya Lofoten Helgeland coast Atlantic road Geiranger – Trollstigen Gamle Strynefjellsvegen Rondane Sognefjellet Valdresflye Gaularfjellet Aurlandsfjellet Hardanger Hardangervidda Ryfylke Jæren Meiner the county must distribute itself State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Tom Kalsås, says the state already gives a lot of money to the county municipalities which must be spent on race insurance. He adds that it has also now been proposed to give more money for the maintenance of county roads. Tom Kalsås, state secretary in the Ministry of Transport, makes no promises that the state will take more responsibility for the tourist routes. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Kalsås believes that it is the county council that knows its vegans best. And that they themselves must prioritize allocating money to Trollstigen. – Therefore, the financing is done through what we call a framework grant, so that the county council gets a pot of money and manages itself where they think there is the greatest need to use the money. So they don’t want to give a special subsidy to the tourist routes or take over responsibility for them? – The increase we have proposed in the new national transport plan is via framework subsidies, meaning that the county council itself decides where they want to use them. Where they themselves think there is the greatest need. Trollstigen was closed on Monday until Thursday. Professionals are carrying out investigations in the area to check whether it is safe to open the road again. Photo: Arnt Morten Olsen Considering opening So far there is no traffic in the narrow bends up the mountainside in Rauma. The Trollstigen is still closed after the rockfall on Monday. Brynjulv Eide is team leader for road operations in Møre and Romsdal county municipality. Photo: Roar Jonny Strøm / news Geologists are now examining the area to check if the road can be reopened. It will happen at the earliest on Thursday at 1 p.m. Brynjulv Eide is head of road operations in Møre og Romsdal county municipality. He says they must consider whether it is safe enough to use the tourist road. – Is it a coincidence that one of them is being hit now, or not? Is there so much rockfall that it might not be safe to have traffic there? This happened on a morning when there was very little traffic. The risk assessment depends on whether the risk is within an acceptable level. Both caravans and buses had to turn around at the foot of Trollstigen on Wednesday, when they found out the road was closed. Photo: Tore Ellingseter / news Eide says they are now trying to find measures they can take to secure the road between Bels. – We are not able to give any guarantees. At the same time, it cannot be the case that it is dangerous to be in the Trollstigen. Then we have to see if we can find solutions to keep the risk at an acceptable level. Published 19.06.2024, at 10.29 Updated 19.06.2024, at 13.04
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Meiner the state should pay for race protection of national tourist roads
