Drivers will no longer have to pay tolls for using Oslofjordtunnelen

Oslo fjord tunnel between Drøbak and Hurum.Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

As of August, drivers will no longer have to pay tolls when driving through the 7.3 km long Oslofjord tunnel(Oslofjordtunnelen) between Drøbak and Hurum.

The tunnel has been paid off several years ago, but  has the past three years had an exemption for collecting tolls. The revised national budget which will be presented on Wednesday, will make clear that driving through the tunnel will be free from August, NRK reported.
But  this will will probably be short-lived. The tunnel is part of Highway 23, opened in 2000. The NPRA is in the process of planning the Phase 2 of the section in question, which involves building a new run of 7.4 kilometers  in the tunnel .
The new development will be partly financed by the state by 880 million kroner, while tolls are ti contribute 1.950 million.
The reason for the planned expansion is that  the present tunnel, which only has a single run, does not meet the requirements for safety and predictability if something untoward should happen.  About 5,000 vehicles pass through the tunnel each day. There have been several serious accidents in the tunnel and a serious fire on 23 July 2011.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today