Runavík mayor says new tunnel route needs covered trench

A covered road trench must be built at Fjøruvegur immediately if traffic from the north is routed along the eastern side of Skálafjørður, Runavík Mayor Tórbjørn Jacobsen says, according to KVF.

Jacobsen said the increase in traffic, including heavy vehicles, would conflict with plans to develop a town centre in Runavík. The proposed route would also abandon plans to send heavy traffic along Strandavegur.

Landsverk is examining an alternative route for the planned Gøtudal tunnel, Transport Minister Jacob Vestergaard said on Wednesday. Under the proposal, the tunnel would emerge at the Skipanes junction rather than beneath Valaknúkar. Traffic would then travel along the eastern side of Skálafjørður on a road above the village of Søldarfjørður.

The proposed route is four kilometres shorter than sending northbound traffic through the village of Skálafjørður and along Strandavegur, a road built for that purpose.

Jacobsen said the original plan for the tunnel to emerge beneath Valaknúkar was intended to divide traffic, with heavy vehicles using Strandavegur and lighter traffic passing through Runavík.