The southbound run on the E39 (towards Bergen) will be closed on the weekend of 3-6 May, in connection with the upgrading of the Glaskartunnel. The road will be excavated, and the Swedish Road Administration encourages people in the immediate area to avoid driving and instead use public transport or bicycles this weekend.
– We have to dig our way through the road in several places to bring out new conduits for cables, pipes for extinguishing water and stormwater pipes. There are several places that need to be dug this time too, so one tunnel run must be closed throughout the weekend, says project manager Kristian Dahle Sylta in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
The southbound run of the Glaskar Tunnel, direction from Åsane towards Bergen, therefore closes on Friday 3 May at 21.00, and will not open again until Monday 6 May at 05.30. Northbound traffic on the E39 runs as normal, but the contractor may need to close one of the two lanes in the northbound direction due to excavation work close to and in the median. This depends on how the contractor’s progress turns out, and what unforeseen things may be encountered along the way.
Collective and call-out priority
– The contractor is well equipped, so we believe this should go within the set time frame and will open for normal traffic as soon as possible by Monday at 05.30, says Sylta.
Detour will be via Fylkesvei 578 Åsamyrane from Ikea – Fylkesvei 578 Ervikveien (Åsane center – Eidsvåg) and via E16 Arnaveien – 587 Hardangerveien to Nesttun.
Public transport and emergency vehicles will be able to pass traffic guards at Ikea and continue to the bus terminal in Åsane. From there, public transport and emergency services will be able to continue on the motorway to a new temporarily established exit to the roundabout in Tertneskrysset. Here they will have to drive on Fv.578 Ervikveien together with the other traffic. Åsane bus terminal will operate as normal throughout the weekend.
– Leave the car standing
– We encourage people to leave their cars and use bicycles or public transport this weekend in Åsane. For road users otherwise, it will be very difficult to get around in the district, and therefore it may be smart for people from Bergen north to drive via Arna and Hardangerveien to Nesttun and then towards the city centre, says Sylta.
In central Åsane, manual traffic routing will be introduced at important intersections, to try to ensure accessibility for buses, among other things, during the time period Saturday 04 May between 10.00 and 18.00.
On Saturday, Åsane’s women’s team will have a home game at Åsane Arena at 14:00 against Vålerenga, and Brann will have a home game against Rosenborg at the Stadium at 18:00.
– Travelers must plan their route and time on the basis that there will be major traffic challenges in Åsane this weekend, says project manager Sylta.
– Will be significant challenges
When the E39 Glaskartunnelen from Bergen city center towards Åsane was closed all weekend last November, there were major traffic challenges between Bergen city center and Åsane. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is clear that this time too there will be significant challenges in getting around the road network in Åsane for ordinary road users. – We therefore encourage people to use other roads and alternative travel methods, says Sylta.
The work in both the tunnel and the long day zone has made good progress since the start at the end of August 2023, and we have gradually started the foundation works in the southbound direction. In the northbound direction, we have, among other things, established extinguishing water for the fire service for both runs, new guideways for draft pipes both inside and outside the tunnel, and that new water and frost protection has been installed in the tunnel suspension. A new technical building has been built on the outside of the northbound tunnel run, and rock protection has been carried out on the slope outside the tunnel.
– There is a lot of activity both inside the tunnel and in the daytime zone from the Eidsvåg tunnel to Ikea, says Sylta.
Eventually, there will be more and more electrical work, and the large machines that people have become accustomed to standing along the road will gradually disappear when the digging work is finished.
Tags: Glaskartunnelen E39 Closes southbound lanes Glaskar tunnel Leave car bicycle public transport
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