The Nature Conservation Society: – Party ends

On Sunday, Dagbladet reported that local mayors are reacting strongly to the fact that Nye Veier has decided to delay development of the new E39 between Mandal and Lyngdal.

Now the Nature Conservancy says it believes plans should change.

– I think the new methods should make good use of the break. Not only should plans be put on hold, but also changed so that there is room for them in the future — financially, in terms of climate and nature, including interest in a thousand-year-old topsoil that will now be razed, says Pernell Hansen, a deputy for the Conservation Society. Nature for Dagbladet.

Nye Veier explained to Dagbladet that one of the main reasons for the delay was higher raw material prices, and that they would continue to develop the road section when they saw the market allowing it. The government told Dagbladet that it is Nye Veier herself who sets the priorities and decides when to start projects within the portfolio allocated to her by the ministry.

want to improve

Hansen of the Nature Conservancy thinks the new roads should improve the existing road instead, building a couple of tunnels and creating a central driveway and bypass. She believes that this will prevent major excesses and reduce the cost of money.

We should focus on spending money on improving the road network we already have rather than building new roads or expanding capacity over longer areas. Moreover, we must give priority to repairing the most dangerous points on our roads. We won’t achieve our climate goals by spending huge sums on wide roads with little traffic.

Green Party deputy leader Ariel Hermstad told Dagbladet that he sees indications that the government is pursuing a policy of ill-considered ways.

The fact that you now have to stop projects in the middle of the construction process is another sign that we have a poorly thought out road policy that the government is following. Hermstad tells Dagbladet that a number of unnecessary large highway projects mean that the price in the market for raw materials is going up, and everything is becoming more expensive.

– The party’s over

Both the Norwegian Society for Conservation of Nature and the Millennium Development Goals believe there is no need for road sections with a speed limit of 110 km/h in Norway.

It’s time for you to realize the party’s over. For reasons of climate, nature and energy consumption, there is no place for these road projects, Hansen says and is asking Transport Minister John Ivar Nygaard (Labour) to remove speed limits of up to 110 km/h.

– If he doesn’t want to do it for the climate and nature, he can at least do it for the IEA, Who asks us to lower the speed limits To reduce energy consumption due to the energy crisis in Europe, which arose as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. This is something that is being discussed in many countries, for example Sweden is working in full swing to lower the speed limits.

110 km/h

Hansen continues:

– You keep driving at 90kph, which is the breaking point in many places for us to be able to use the current route. This is important to protect the irreplaceable nature, which is most urgent.

– It’s good that Nye Veier has pulled the brakes now, so we can have a chance to take that discussion. But they should have slowed down on many projects, for example at E6 in the Outback and Trøndelag.

Hermstad has two clear calls for government.

What we need now is an investment in the roads we already have, as many of the roads in the areas are not safe from floods nor landslides, or are in safe condition from a safety perspective, says Hermstad and continues:

The government should also as quickly as possible move away from the norm where 110 km/h and four fields are what prevails for road development in Norway. This eats nature and topsoil and requires huge amounts of energy and resources for its formation.