Manager This is a leader. The editor expresses the newspaper’s position.
The toll works. Tromsø people drive less fossil fuels, and take more buses and bicycles. Not least, they get their feet wet. That was the whole purpose of the urban growth agreements – to reduce emissions and get people to use more environmentally friendly transport solutions.
Such a development should of course be rewarded. Don’t be punished. It is about the legitimacy of introduced measures and the legitimacy of the state’s incentives. Not least, it is about the credibility of the politicians who promise to leave.
The Kvaløy connection and the airport tunnel with the F2 link. It is the two big transport promises that have been the carrot for Tromsø’s motorists, who are part of the team to make the city more environmentally friendly, attractive and passable.
On Monday, it became even clearer that these projects face an uncertain future. The urban development committee considered Think Tromsø’s action program for the next four years. Among other things, the airport tunnel has ended up in the “Non-priority projects” category.
It was not surprising. When the F2 link, which will connect the tunnel with the road network, was included in the National Transport Plan, the tunnel moved far behind in the queue.
Originally, the Airport Tunnel – which is the most expensive project in Think Tromsø and the project in which the state invests the most – was to be started in 2027 and completed in 2036. It was supposed to bring the heavy transport, dust and queues down from the Cross Connection.
But by having entered NTP with the F2 link, the project has been postponed indefinitely. It is not prioritized for the first six years of the NTP period. Thus, it is also no wonder that Think Tromsø cannot prioritize it.
The state, represented by the Støre government, must invest more in urban development when users are influenced by political policies. The zero growth target, which was laid down in the Climate Agreement in the Storting in 2012, has always been the overall target for all urban growth agreements in Norway.
“The aim for the urban areas is that greenhouse gas emissions, traffic jams, air pollution and noise are to be reduced through efficient land use and by the increase in passenger transport being taken up by public transport, cycling and walking.” writes the National Road Administration.
The airport tunnel is an efficient use of land. Which the Norwegian Public Roads Administration itself sees as its prestige project in Tromsø. The government must take responsibility for it.
The local politicians must be on the ball when it comes to renegotiation of the urban growth agreement going forward. They get little help from the government.
