Sundabraut project manager leaves post

Helga Jóna Jónasdóttir left her role as project manager for the planned Sundabraut road this summer and has joined geothermal development company Reykjavík Geothermal, Morgunblaðið reported. She had led the project for the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration since May 2023.

The administration has not decided whether to advertise the role, its information officer, G. Pétur Matthíasson, said. Its management structure allows project managers to move between projects and take over other roles when needed.

Matthíasson said Jónasdóttir had done an excellent job and left the project in a good position after the environmental impact assessment and a business plan were completed. Her departure is not expected to affect the project’s progress, he said.

The first stage of Sundabraut would cross Kleppsvík. The options are a bridge between Kleppsbakki in Sundahöfn and Gufunes, or a tunnel beneath the bay. The Road Administration has recommended a bridge, as has the Housing, Construction and Planning Authority in its environmental assessment opinion, issued in June. A year had passed since the assessment was presented. Exploratory drilling at the proposed bridge location began in spring 2024, using the barge Ýmir RE.

The project will be tendered as a whole, including preliminary and detailed design, construction, operation and possible toll collection. In an interview with Morgunblaðið in April, Jónasdóttir said the procurement process for the public-private partnership could take about two years, from inviting interested parties to the signing of an agreement. A further six to seven years would be needed for design and construction. Subject to decisions and the procurement model, work could begin in 2029, she said.

The state and Reykjavík City agreed to build Sundabraut in summer 2021. Under the original schedule, construction was to begin in 2026 and finish in 2031. The project has faced delays for various reasons.

Guðmundur Valur Guðmundsson, an executive at the Road Administration, chairs the five-member committee preparing the project. He was appointed by the minister of infrastructure.

Björgvin Þorsteinsson was appointed project manager in January 2023 but withdrew before taking up the role. He is an engineer who had managed large international projects in Norway, Australia and Iceland for 25 years. Jónasdóttir was appointed in May 2023, becoming the project’s first permanent employee. Sundabraut had been under discussion for nearly half a century.