– When people start moving, it goes without saying that this is doomed to failure

Red will support the proposal from the FRP and Roy Steffensen about Ryfast. And I would encourage all parties to do the same, says Mímir Kristjánsson. The right hangs on.

The Progress Party believes that the price of Norway’s most expensive barriers is unreasonable.

“The Storting asks the government to undertake a review of the toll project Ryfast, and to return to the Storting as soon as possible with measures that will reduce the toll burden for commuters”.

This is the wording of a proposal from Roy Steffensen and three other FRP politicians, which the Storting will decide on.

Steffensen states that he has received signals from KrF leader Olaug Bollestad that she supports the proposal. So does Mímir Kristjánsson (Red).

– We are trying to create a Rogaland gathering to challenge the governing parties. We have good help from the Right, at least. Irene Heng Lauvsnes is not concerned with anything but Ryfast, the Rødt politician chuckles at the thought of the Strand mayor, who has been acting as a substitute in the Storting.

– And I understand that well, adds Kristjánsson.

The Right is also involved.

– We will support the FRP proposal and will propose a clear deadline for when the government must deliver. In the state budget in the autumn at the latest, says Aleksander Stokkebø (H).

Norway’s most expensive

Because Ryfast has become progressively more expensive.

• For a fossil fuel car without a bomb tag, it now costs NOK 197 to drive through the two tunnels.
• Fossil cars with bomb tags pay NOK 157.60.
• Electric cars pay NOK 110.32.
• The price for heavy vehicles is NOK 580.

Ferde receives an annual subsidy to keep the rates 10 per cent lower than they would otherwise have been.

Mímir Kristjánsson refers to Aftenbladet’s case about a family who moved home to Jørpeland from Oslo. When Norway’s most expensive toll was introduced on the road between home and workplace, they decided to settle in Stavanger.

– When people start moving from Jørpeland and Tau to the city because they cannot drive the tunnel at NOK 6,400 per month with a fossil-fuel car, then it goes without saying that this project is doomed to failure, Mímir Kristjánsson believes.

About 2,600 beach bums use the road daily.

The Ryfast booms required approx. NOK 330 million in 2023.

– This is just a vicious circle that gets worse and worse. It’s going to get more and more expensive, because there are fewer and fewer people driving. There is no solution to this unless Norway comes politically and solves this.

– We have to save it

Rødt’s solution is to create a “national pot for failed toll projects”. The party has set aside money for such a pot in all its alternative budgets. Which will therefore cut the tolls where the politicians see it is not working. And Ryfast is at the top of the list.

– We must save such abandoned toll projects. Everything has gone wrong with the Ryfast project and it is not the fault of the people in Strand. The project has not received ferry replacement funds. Stavanger has turned the barriers on Bybrua. I don’t understand how it will be possible to pay off this tunnel if we don’t find a solution, says Mímir Kristjánsson.

As of 31 December 2023, the outstanding debt in Ryfast was approx. NOK 6.3 billion. Kristjánsson believes that the major parties will argue with the signal effect by first building something that is toll-financed and afterwards the Storting must pay anyway.

– But it is not people in Strand who have built this tunnel, it is the Storting that has made the decision. So it is our problem and we have to solve it. Roy Steffensen’s initiative is therefore very good. The FRP is vague about the solution, but it is perhaps what the government can accept, so they can sit down and find a solution.

There have been several demonstrations against high tolls in recent months. On 18 April, a public meeting will be organized at Tau Church by the Action Group for Fair Rates in Ryfast.

Irene Heng Lauvsnes is back as mayor of Strand. She believes there is a limit to how large a bill the state must send to the citizens.

– The road that connects Ryfylke and Stavanger has become an obstacle for many. We can’t have it like this. Ryfast is in a special class both when it comes to the toll rate, debt and government share. I have taken this up with the Conservative Party in the Storting, she says.

Partifelle Aleksander Stokkebø has been involved several times in the past to reduce toll rates. He praises Roy Steffensen for the proposal and says that the Conservative Party is keen that Ryfast will be a good project for the county.

– Then people must be able to afford to drive through. Therefore, we agree with the FRP that the project should be reviewed to look at measures to reduce the toll burden, says Stokkebø.