Traffic disruption expected at Sundahöfn during cruise passenger changeover

Traffic congestion is expected at Sundahöfn harbour on Saturday as about 3,000 passengers leave the cruise ship Celebrity Silhouette and another 3,000 board, mbl.is reports.

The passenger changeover will coincide with the closure of Sæbraut road for the Íslandsbanki marathon. Vatnagarðar street, the only alternative route into Sundahöfn, will also be restricted to one-way traffic because of work by utility company Veitur.

“Sæbraut has been closed on this day before and we know how to deal with that, but what causes concern is the work in Vatnagarðar, which is the only alternative route into Sundahöfn,” Jón Þórir Sveinsson, safety manager at Faxaflóahafnir, told Morgunblaðið. “We are most concerned that this route will become a bottleneck to and from the area.”

Many cruise passengers normally travel on day trips by coach. However, because this involves a passenger changeover, most passengers are expected to leave by taxi, rental car or private vehicle. The same applies to those arriving to board the ship.

Faxaflóahafnir is consulting with the city and police on ways to manage the traffic. Police officers may be deployed to direct vehicles through the single-lane section of Vatnagarðar in alternating directions. Officials are also considering allowing taxis to pass through the Eimskip area in Sundahöfn, which is normally closed to general traffic. That would require Eimskip’s agreement and permission.

The changeover is expected to begin at about 7am, when passengers start leaving the ship. Check-in for new passengers will begin around 11am, although passengers would normally start arriving at about 9am in such circumstances. Heavy traffic is expected over a period of about six hours, with at least 2,000 vehicles likely to pass through the area.

A second cruise ship, Seabourn Ovation, will also change passengers that morning. Jón Þórir said the ship was much smaller but carried several hundred passengers, adding to the traffic generated by Celebrity Silhouette.

“The main headache in all of this is that Vatnagarðar is closed in one direction,” Jón Þórir said.