The government will spend 250 million more on road and rail

Road problems.Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB scanpix

The Government proposes in their revised national budget to spend 150 million Nok on operations, maintenance and investments in the national road network and over 100 million on rail.

125 million Nok has been earmarked for various investment initiatives on national roads in the counties of Rogaland, Hordaland and Møre og Romsdal, whilst 25 million will go to the asphalt laying and maintainance of the national roads.
– Pretty much all about maintenance and minor investments. With increased funding for rail and road there will be more jobs and employment in the construction industry, says Minister for Transport Ketil Solvik-Olsen to news agency NTB.

The Government also proposes 106.5 million of fresh money for maintenance and investments in the Bergen and Sørland railroad. Transport Minister also links these measures to higher unemployment.
– The funds will be specifically oriented towards action in Southern and Western Norway, where unemployment has risen lately, says Solvik-Olsen. NOK 74.5 million to be used for maintenance and 32 million on investments in safety and environmental measures.

Clear plans
Many projects under Solvik-Olsen department get funding or are being accelerated now that there is a need for measures that can employ people.
– Government must prioritize measures that can quickly get people into work. These will usually be small projects that are easy to initiate without lots of planning and where employment in all probability takes place locally.
Many railway and road projects meet all these criteria.
– It’s nice when one is the Minister of Transport and are being told to get started on big and small projects. We have a large portfolio of planned projects to pick from.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today

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