– I hope the politicians can join us on a trailer tour to see how we are doing. If they sit on a trailer over Hamarøya with all the tunnels, they see the madness straight away, says Ramesh Nagarajah. He owns his own long-distance transport company in Lofoten. The roads are his home track, but he has almost lost faith that something will be done about bad northern Norwegian county roads. Although new costs will now be included in county politics throughout Norway. And the politicians who are now taking over responsibility for the county roads are driving backwards. The risk is increasing The National Road Administration has carried out a risk analysis for Norwegian roads. It is becoming increasingly dangerous to travel on county roads. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration constantly carries out risk assessments. In 2020, the risk of being seriously injured or killed was 80 per cent higher on a county road than on a national road. Now the risk is 90 per cent higher on county roads compared to national roads. – It is scary to think that this is happening in Norway. I have driven a lot in Poland and in Germany. Even in Poland they have better roads than in northern Norway, says Nagarajah. The fact that the risk is increasing is due to several things, according to Rikard Gaarder Knutsen, specialist manager at the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV). BEAUTIFUL AND SCARY: The surroundings of Ramesh Nagarajah’s workplace are beautiful, but the roads he drives on are dangerous. Photo: Petter Strøm / news – One thing is that the road network is falling into disrepair, and the backlog is getting bigger and bigger. In addition, we get a tougher climate. The roads we thought would withstand the climate we’ve had, cannot withstand the climate we have now. Then the risk of landslides, landslides and that type of thing increases, says Knutsen – Therefore, it may become the case that we may have to think completely new now, to secure the roads in a different way than before, which makes the work even more expensive. Must repair roads for almost 100 billion OFV recently published a chronicle about the county roads, in which they call for action from the county politicians. As of today, the backlog on county roads is between NOK 86 and 93 billion. – The biggest challenges are that the county roads have been allowed to fall into disrepair over so many years. We have been left with a huge backlog that nobody knows how to deal with, says Knutsen. – The next challenge is that it has taken too long to put this work into a system. In order to get something done about the bad roads, Knutsen believes, among other things, that the politicians must look at the road network across the counties. Furthermore, they must prioritize which roads they should start with, for example stretches that are important for business and especially accident-prone roads. – Then the county councils must be aware of their responsibility. Several of them have more to do, and can prioritize road maintenance and renewal to a greater extent than they have done until now, Knutsen believes. MONEY QUESTIONS: In 2010, the state transferred responsibility for many 1,000 kilometers of road to the county councils. – Since then, there has been far too much talk about who will pay and how much it costs to fix these roads, instead of the fact that things have been done, says Rikard Gaarder Knutsen, Head of Department at the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV). Photo: Andreas Sundby / news County councilor for transport in the Center Party, Monika Sande, does not disagree that more needs to be done. – I can only say that we agree with what is being said. The county council has sent a letter to the ministry with the view that we need a greater focus on county roads. According to Sande, all funds are used, and much of them for mobility and transport. – Then, if we are to get something done with regard to the roads we have in the county, we must be given more funds. – Is it just about this, or can you do more? Monika Sande, county councilor for transport in the Center Party. Photo: Kasper Holgersen / news – We can do more, but then it comes at the expense of upper secondary school, dental health and the other tasks we have. We absolutely have to get more funds if we are to be able to catch up on the backlog that is on the county roads. Believes that roads must be prioritized A survey carried out for Yrkestrafikkforbundet shows that only 7 percent of Norwegian politicians are satisfied with the county’s prioritization of maintenance of the road network, writes Nettavisen. In Northern Norway, only 1 percent of politicians are satisfied. – It is high time that the roads are given priority. The politicians must get involved and get an overview of the needs and what is planned. Then they must ensure that they familiarize themselves thoroughly with the situation, so that they can make good choices, says Rikard Gaarder Knutsen in OFV. – We fully understand that the county councils have other important tasks as well, but bad roads are negative for society. One thing is that there is a risk to people’s lives and health. If the roads are closed, we risk that villages will be isolated and that business will be severely affected. Ramesh Nagarajah in Svolvær also hopes that the politicians who now come to power take action. – I hope they start the work instead of spending all the time waiting and evaluating so much.
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