Vestland postpones Utvikfjellet closure after business protests

Vestland County Municipality has suspended planned maintenance work on the Utvikfjellet mountain pass indefinitely after protests from local businesses, NRK reports. The road between Byrkjelo and Utvik was due to close for up to five hours a day over the next four months.

The pass is particularly busy in August, one of the busiest months of the year. Tourists and local residents regularly stop to photograph the view of Nordfjord on the descent towards Utvik.

The road requires extensive maintenance, including work on roadside culverts to prevent water from damaging it. The project was scheduled to continue until November and is expected to cost about 11 million kroner.

Under the original plan, the road would have been closed from 8am to 9.30am and from 11am to 4pm from Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, the second closure would have ended at 2pm.

Businesses in the area said the closures could have had serious consequences during the tourist season. Around 2,500 vehicles used the road in summer 2025, compared with 816 in winter.

“Such a closure would have had dramatic consequences for tourism in the middle of the tourist season,” said Bjørn Lødemel, head of the Sogn and Fjordane Business Council.

Several tourism operators on both sides of the mountain said they were informed of the plans only last week and were not involved in the planning. Lars Gimmestad, general manager of Visit Nordfjord, warned that traffic could be diverted to other routes, potentially leading to cancellations and rebookings.

The municipalities of Stryn and Gloppen were also not involved in the planning. Gloppen’s acting mayor, Jan Ove Rygg, called the process unacceptable and said it showed little consideration for residents, tourism and commercial needs.

Stryn Mayor Per Kjøllesdal said he did not learn about the plans until 5 August. The county municipality had contacted Stryn in late June, but the letter was sent to the health and social services and emergency preparedness leadership and was not passed on. It did not specify the closure times or the date of the work.

Vestland County Municipality acknowledged that the matter had been handled poorly.

“We should have had a more thorough dialogue beforehand, so that this would have been more predictable before we started,” said Dina Lefdal, the county’s director of infrastructure and roads.

Lefdal said the road was under heavy strain and that the work was necessary. The county is now discussing with the contractor whether the closures can be moved to times when traffic is lighter, possibly at night. It is not yet known when the work will begin, and the county has not said what financial consequences the delay will have.