It is not unusual for traffic to be congested on the E18 around Drammen. The city is Norway’s fifth largest, and the motorway transports people both to the capital and to cabins in Vestfold and in Southern Norway. Experts fear it will get even worse. At this roundabout under the motorway, the queue piles up. It spreads further onto E18. Photo: Hedda Grønbekk / news The new hospital in Drammen will open next year, right by the E18. Then 4,000 employees and many hundreds of patients and visitors have to enter and exit the traffic flow every day. In addition, all the goods are transported. Thousands of cars a day Arne Tovslid, senior engineer in the Norwegian Road Administration, is afraid that the E18 will be hit even harder when the hospital opens. He fears for the traffic into Oslo and down to Sørlandet. Arne Tovslid from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration is concerned about queues in and out of the new hospital. Photo: Anders Haualand / news – The problem is that there will then be a queue on what is not an exit ramp to Drammen, which will hinder the other traffic, which is going to Sørlandet or wherever. – At the end of the queue, there is always a risk of cars being hit or accidents happening, says Tovslid. Traffic measurements show that during the morning and afternoon rush hour over 4,000 cars pass there per hour. Tovslid says that it is being considered to have more lanes on the E18 between Kjellstad and Brakerøya, but that it is a long way off. If anything comes of it. On average, over 4,000 cars per hour drive on the E18 past Drammen during rush hour, in the morning and afternoon. Photo: Cecilie Valentine Brekke / news Hardly possible without tolls It is planned that 70 per cent of journeys to and from the hospital will be car-free. The politicians in Drammen have decided that they will not introduce tolls into the city. The Swedish Road Administration does not think it is possible to achieve the green goals without it. Therefore, they submitted objections to detailed regulations for a new hospital in Drammen in 2019. But they were not heard. However, they got approval for an underpass for pedestrians and cyclists, and a traffic count must be carried out one year after the hospital has opened. Don’t be afraid of the queues – There are some queues in the big cities, and if there are too many queues, people choose other means of transport. We are pretty sure that mechanism will work here too, says Bertil Horvli, acting director of communities in Drammen municipality. Bertil Horvli from Drammen municipality believes they have a good overview of how the traffic situation will be with the new hospital in Drammen. Photo: Hedda Grønbekk / news He believes that good arrangements are being made for traveling by public transport. Instead of two train departures per hour from Brakerøya, four are planned. But Jernbaneverket has recently cast doubt on the extent to which there may still be four train departures. It will be finally decided in a year. Horvli says that there will be a better bus service, and that a superbus route to Mjøndalen is planned. Unrealistic targets The city’s politicians have a target of zero growth in car traffic in the coming years. But 50 percent use a car for work trips in and out of the city centre. It is high compared to other similar cities, says research leader at the Institute of Transport Economics, Aud Tennøy. Aud Tennøy is a researcher at the Institute of Transport Economics. Photo: TØI – It is the city center that has the best public transport accessibility. It is also the place most people walk and cycle to. It is the place where you expect the lowest proportion of cars, she says. Therefore, Tennøy has little faith that it will be possible to achieve only 30 per cent car use for the new hospital. – We almost only find that to and from workplaces in the city center in the biggest cities. Accessibility to Brakerøya will be poorer, both with public transport and pedestrian and bicycle traffic. She is also not impressed by the public transport services that are planned, even if there were to be four train departures per hour. – I don’t consider four train departures an hour a good offer, it’s a good offer. Most of the employees at the hospital drive to work. Photo: Cecilie Valentine Brekke / news Car city Drammen In today’s hospitals, 80 per cent of patients and 64 per cent of employees use cars, according to Helse Sør-East. Tennøy says that this can be controlled by having few parking spaces at the new hospital, but then another problem comes into play. In the travel habits survey, 41 per cent of the employees say that they will have a longer journey to the new hospital. – Then people may choose not to work at that hospital, says Tennøy. Many people choose to take the car to get to and from Drammen hospital. Photo: Cecilie Valentine Brekke / news Arne Tovslid from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration points out that many measures have already been taken, without having had a major effect. – There hasn’t been a huge increase in foot and cycle traffic here in the city, even though a number of measures have been taken. – So you are concerned about traffic trends here? – I’m a bit worried, and very much waiting to see if we succeed in what has been said, he says. Believes public transport is a shared responsibility Project director for the new hospital, Arnstein Hodne, does not share the fear. He replies in an e-mail to news that the traffic situation has been part of the planning since the location was decided. Project director Arnstein Hodne believes that traffic was taken into account when the hospital was planned. Photo: Cecilie Valentine Brekke / news – The construction project finances transport measures with over half a billion kroner, which includes a four-lane road, pedestrian and cycle paths. A new roundabout is already in place, and a new exit will be built to the area by the CC shopping centre, says Hodne. He further replies that the health authority’s aim is for as many people as possible to use public transport. – These are ambitious goals, but it is a shared responsibility to reduce car traffic. A collaboration has been established with the public transport companies both on road and rail, so that you will get as good an offer as possible for those going to and from Brakerøya, he concludes. Arne Tovslid from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration retired on 1 January this year. The interview with him was done before he retired, but the Swedish Road Administration stands by his statements.
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The Norwegian Public Roads Administration fears a new hospital in Drammen could stop queues on the E18 – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
