Faroese roads starved of asphalt funding, minister confirms

The Faroe Islands’ new minister for transport affairs, Jacob Vestergaard, has confirmed that road maintenance budgets are far too low to keep the national road network in acceptable condition, according to Kringvarp Føroya.

The national road network spans 480 kilometres. On average, roads should be resurfaced every 15 years, meaning approximately 32 kilometres should be asphalted per year. At an average cost of 8 million krónur per kilometre, the current annual budget allocation covers only 6.7 kilometres.

Landsverk, the public roads authority, estimates that around 100 kilometres of national road are urgently in need of resurfacing.

12 million krónur allocated this year

This year’s budget for asphalt work totals 12 million krónur. Landsverk plans to use 10 million of that to resurface the road between Norðasta Horn and Velbastaður, the road through Velbastaður, and part of the road through the village of Sand, covering a combined 5.5 kilometres. The remaining 2 million krónur will go toward smaller repairs.

The information comes in a ministerial response to a question from member of parliament Hermann R. Samuelsen, who had asked about the condition of Oyrarvegin road. Vestergaard confirmed that resurfacing Oyrarvegin is necessary, and said he hopes it will be possible to schedule the work within a reasonable timeframe.