Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) and Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) met on Wednesday at Arna station in Bergen with news about the new E16 and new route on the Bergen Railway. Now they are bringing start-up funds for the section between Arna in Bergen and Stanghelle in Vaksdal. – Now the road is to be built, now the railway is to be built, and this is an important national project. This is about binding Norway together, says Slagsvold Vedum. In total, the project will cost NOK 40 billion to build. – There will also be construction activities or building activities in 2025. So this means that this project will be realised. It’s about developing the region here, developing the whole country, says Nygård. Several media were present at the press conference. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news – The biggest project in Norway in recent times E16 is one of the main roads between east and west in Norway. The road connects Bergen with Voss and other roads to Oslo via Hemsedal, Filefjell and Hardangervidda. The project, which is also called K5, is a joint project between the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Bane Nor. It will secure a new European road and double track for the railway between Arna and Stanghelle. This map shows where the new section will be located. Photo: Statens vegvesen – In the national budget, we plan to start that project. This means that we will submit a proposal to the Storting in the spring that will make this a point of no return, says Nygård. – There are so many people who want money to go. What reactions have you had to prioritizing such an expensive project as this? – There has been opposition to it, but we think it is so important. Important primarily for the region and for traffic safety, but it is also an important national project. It is the largest project in Norway in recent times, says Nygård. The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Transport are satisfied with the choice they have made. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Crash- and accident-prone road The stretch between Bergen and Voss has previously – in an unofficial evaluation by news – been voted Norway’s worst road, and has long been very prone to crashes and accidents. The road has, among other things, been called the “road of death”. The finance minister has also heard a lot about this. – I have been to Voss, Vaksdal, here in Bergen. I have met people in the transport industry, people who have been nervous, and who have experienced rock falls. It is precisely what makes us see that the project is so important, because it binds Norway together, he says. – But the fact that it is a particularly landslide-prone stretch with wet weather, cold autumn evenings. People have it as work weather and road every day, so I understand that uneasiness, he adds. The road is very prone to landslides and accidents. Here is from a landslide on the E16 at the Stanghelle tunnel in 2018. Photo: Karl Martin Valestrand Been part of the national transport plan for a long time But it is not the first time that ministers have been in place to provide news about the construction of the section. The last time the finance minister and the transport minister met at Arna station, they made promises of NOK 38.9 billion for the construction of the giant project. The 30 km long project was also part of the national transport plan already in 2017. Since then, the plan for the project has been kept alive, but the start of construction itself has been worse. – Is this the last press conference here now? – Yes, but I’m looking forward to driving the road when it’s finished. But it takes a few years to build and spend 40 billion. Published 11.09.2024, at 12.48 Updated 11.09.2024, at 13.09
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Start-up funds in place for new E16 and new train route between Arna and Stanghelle – news Vestland
