[N] Roads in Norway • Veier i Norge

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by ElviS77

You may want to start with this:

http://www.vegvesen.no/_attachment/3...English%29.pdf

You might also find this useful:

http://www.vegvesen.no/Vegprosjekter...friE39/English

Both from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, I'll see what I can dig up from the government's site.

Thank you very very much!

[Ingenioren]

Video from E6 north of Lillehammer, new tunnel and upgrade of old road to 2+1:

[ChrisZwolle]

A realigned part of E39 opened to traffic today along the northern side of the Sognefjord. It's near the villages Torvund and Teigen and includes a 2.600 meter tunnel.

[rsrikanth05]

2.600meter? You mean 2600 right?

[ChrisZwolle]

Most of Europe uses the decimal mark to separate thousands. 2.600 is 2600 meters or 2,600 meters in U.S. style.

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

Most of Europe uses the decimal mark to separate thousands. 2.600 is 2600 meters or 2,600 meters in U.S. style.

or UK style.
I'm sorry, I did not know.

[ChrisZwolle]

A 143 kilometer stretch of E6 will be upgraded south of Trondheim. 66 kilometers from the Oppland border to Ulsberg will be modernized. Another 40 kilometers to Støren will be widened to a 2+1 road with median barrier and the northernmost 37 kilometers to near Trondheim will be widened to 2x2 lanes.

The costs are 10.8 billion NOK or € 1.47 billion at current exchange rates. Part of the cost will be recovered by tolls, as is common throughout Norway.

Construction of the first segments will likely commence in 2014.

map:

[IceCheese]

The plan also includes a short stretch of Rv3. This map also shows planed speed limit on the whole stretch:


http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/sd/...html?id=709702

I am extremely disappointed that they haven't been able to make roads outside all towns/centras along the route. This should've been the number 1 priority.

[54°26′S 3°24′E]

As far as I understand, the main road from Trøndelag to south-eastern Norway, E6+Rv 3, will actually bypass all towns in Sør-Trøndelag according to the selected concept, except that the status of the tiny settlement at Innset (Rv 3) seems a bit unclear. In my opinion, of course, E+Rv 3 should be built as a motorway, and the remaining settlements on E6 south of Ulsberg should be bypassed as well. Instead, they will next year start construction (multi-hundred MNOK project) of a new E6 THROUGH the town of Oppdal, they just move the road one block....

Note that this is just a choice of concept (Konseptvalgutredning). These are not detailed plans, and, more importantly, not an investment decision. Hence, the E6 / Rv 3 south of Trondheim in Sør Trøndelag county will probably never be exactly like that map shows. One problem is that the local councils have very much power in these processes in Norway, even for roads of national interest. For instance, Rennebu / Berkåk is still working to get the E6 straight through their town, using a "lower standard concept". The reason is their fear losing bussiness, which is course miniscule in the big picture. If they are not heard, the project will probably be delayed for years. Local politics is costly.....

Having said that, the main road towards Oslo (E6+Rv 3) will

[devo]

Don't forget that these tiny towns actually want roundabouts and traffic going straight through their tiny streets to generate visitors and slow down the traffic so people will stop and spend money there. It's stupid, but I'm not completely amazed, as there are many interesting decisions made regarding roads in Norway.

[IceCheese]

When local revenues exceeds the value of traffic safety for children

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by devo

Don't forget that these tiny towns actually want roundabouts and traffic going straight through their tiny streets to generate visitors and slow down the traffic so people will stop and spend money there. It's stupid, but I'm not completely amazed, as there are many interesting decisions made regarding roads in Norway.

So, they'd rather risk safety and congestion in their town?
I thought this kind of thinking happened only in my country.

[ElviS77]

Originally Posted by rsrikanth05

So, they'd rather risk safety and congestion in their town?
I thought this kind of thinking happened only in my country.

Pretty common in Norway, I'm afraid... The way I see it, that kind of thinking is a way bigger problem than not wanting to build motorways linking our main cities - we can live well with 1+1/2+1 expressways on many not-so-busy sections between Oslo and Trondheim, for instance. However, when roundabouts, lower-standard sections and even roads not bypassing villages and towns are built -at a fairly high cost, things look very differently. In places, roundabouts are even considered adequate when linking motorways with other main roads, which of course is preposterous. While I don't agree with some other members in terms of motorway construction, I do promote a proper main road network. Unfortunately, local political pressure and influence make this even more difficult than it ought to be.

[Ingenioren]

4km long section of Rv510 from Stavanger Airport to E39 opens today:

























As you can see this road is built for 4-lanes, but due to symbolic politics it was decided to only open 2 lanes at this time.

[rsrikanth05]

I was wondering the same. Why is it that there is a median when only two lanes are in existence?

[Galro]

Originally Posted by Ingenioren

As you can see this road is built for 4-lanes, but due to symbolic politics it was decided to only open 2 lanes at this time.

Sounds stupid. While not really familiar with this particular stretch of road, then it wouldn't surprise me if it got upgraded to four lanes in a few years time. At huge additional cost of course. So typical Norway.

[ChrisZwolle]

According to Vegvesen Rv590 at the northern side of the airport runway carries 25.000 vehicles per day. It's probably somewhat lower on the new link (the counting location carries both N-S and E-W traffic), but it doesn't leave much room for traffic growth. Especially because it also serves an industrial area located off E39.

[suburbicide]

Originally Posted by rsrikanth05

I was wondering the same. Why is it that there is a median when only two lanes are in existence?

I don't know about this road, ut according to Norwegian road standards, roads with 8000-12000 vehicles per day shall be built like this with a median devider even if it's only 1x1. Such roads shall at given intervals be expanded to 2x1 or 2x2 to allow for overtaking.

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by suburbicide

I don't know about this road, ut according to Norwegian road standards, roads with 8000-12000 vehicles per day shall be built like this with a median devider even if it's only 1x1. Such roads shall at given intervals be expanded to 2x1 or 2x2 to allow for overtaking.

Is that an informal standard or a regulation?

[suburbicide]

Originally Posted by rsrikanth05

Is that an informal standard or a regulation?

It's a regulation by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration which came into effect a few years ago.

The reason for the median barrier is of course traffic safety. The vast majority of traffic deaths in Norway occur in head-on collisions.