Background and information about the Development Strategy for the Coastal Highway Route E39.

Commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, the transport agencies (the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), the Norwegian National Rail Administration, the Norwegian Coastal Administration and Avinor AS) have prepared the basis material for the National Transport Plan (NTP) 2018–2029. One of the NPRA’s tasks was to show how the Coastal Highway Route E39 between Kristiansand and Trondheim can be completed in 20 years as a continuous route without ferries and with improved road standard. 

The mission is in line with the ambitions of both the current and the previous government, and it is expressed in the NTP currently in force, NTP 2014 – 2023.

The NPRA has therefore prepared a «Development Strategy for the E39 Coastal Highway Route”. It shows that it is indeed possible to realise the project in 20 years – with regard to technology development as well as to planning and building time. What will make this project challenging is the financial resources it requires.

The development strategy presents a specific and feasible implementation plan, plotting both planning phases and construction phases for individual subsections along a timeline of 20 years.

The most important criteria for placing the individual projects on the time line are as follows:

  • The technology required for the most difficult fiord crossings must be in place
  • There must be enough time for planning
  • The contracting market must be taken into account – spreading costs as evenly as possible over the period

«Development Strategy for the E39 Coastal Highway Route» is a separate report that is independent of the transport agencies’ base document for NTP 2018–2029. There is no necessary accordance between the ranking lists in the agencies’ base document and the projects proposed in the development strategy for 2018-2029.

Contact

Subproject Manager is Kjetil Strand.