– This is something the majority party has tried to push through for at least the last year and a half. They want to get the new toll ring adopted in the Storting before the local elections in 2023, says Svein Erik Indbjo. He sits on the municipal council for the FRP in Haugesund and is the county leader of the FRP. He himself is against new tolls and is in no rush at all. The best he can think of is that the new toll ring will be a theme in the election campaign next year. It is not certain that it will be in several municipalities in Rogaland and Vestland. Svein Erik Indbjo (Frp). Photo: Rosa Iren Villalobos / news The municipalities will get it done On 12 May there was a steering meeting in the current toll ring in Haugalandet. Present were the municipalities of Bokn, Karmøy, Haugesund, Tysvær and Vindafjord in Rogaland and Etne and Sveio in Vestland. In the minutes it is stated that the municipalities wish to have the decision on new toll rings completed before the election campaign next year. Haugesund municipality will move the bridge to Risøy to get heavy traffic away from the city centre. Photo: Linn Karin Fludal “The municipalities have wanted the city package to be dealt with locally politically before the election in 2023”, it says under the item “briefing on work with new toll packages in Haugalandet”. Warns against removing bogus rings from the election campaign – Voters should be allowed to take a stand on important issues, even if it can be painful for the politicians, says Svein Tuastad, political scientist with a specialist field of politics and elections. Svein Tuastad, political scientist at the University of Stavanger (UiS). Photo: Torkel Anstensrud Schibevaag / news If the politicians try to keep toll issues out of the election campaign, it is contrary to how we want democracy to work, Tuastad believes. Toll opponents bring politicians to their knees In the municipal elections in 2017, opposition to tolls was the big topic. In Nord-Jæren, popular opposition led to the system of higher rates in the toll ring during rush hour being removed a week before the election. In 2019, the toll collection in Finnfast in Rogaland disappeared. The government allowed extra money so that the tolls could be removed. Photo: Ståle Frafjord / news Collection in the Finnfast tunnel project in Finnøy was stopped earlier than planned. In addition, there was a political majority that other toll projects, which were coming to an end, should not be replaced by new ones. The Haugaland package was reviewed Two years later, in 2021, there was also a scathing report about the current toll ring in Haugalandet. The report concluded that there was a lack of cost control and poor planning. Erlend Jordal (H). Photo: Høyre – The review showed that there had been weak management and poor cost control. The cost estimate was too low and there was too little quality assurance, says the leader of the control committee in the county, Erlend Jordal (H). New plans In a year’s time, the license for the Haugalands package will expire, and then several of the municipalities in the area will want to establish new municipal toll rings. Haugesund municipality will use the income to build a new bridge to Risøy and to improve conditions for cycling and public transport. Arne-Christian Mohn (Ap) wants more people in Haugesund to switch from cars to buses Photo: Arne Gunnar Olsen / news In addition, they want an agreement that means more money from the state in exchange for them promising that car traffic in the municipality will not increase. – I feel that a clear majority in the municipal council believe it is so important to reduce heavy traffic in the city centre, that they accept introducing new tolls to implement it, says mayor Arne-Christian Mohn (Ap). He does not think that it is a problem for the Labor Party if the new toll ring is hotly debated in the election campaign. – It is to get in a position to apply for money from the state that I am in a hurry. Not because we are afraid that it will become an important election campaign issue, says Mohn. Could mean a repeat of the toll riot Statsvitar Tuastad at UiS says that if people’s toll expenses increase, it is a dream scenario for populist parties such as the FRP and the People’s Party. – There is a clear risk that there could be a repeat of the toll riots we have seen in the cities, he says. Mayor Mohn in Haugesund says they aim not to increase the toll pressure any more than the 12 kroner per passage, as it is today.
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Municipality wants to adopt new toll rings before next year’s election – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
