Snow in western Norway causes traffic chaos
On Saturday afternoon, traffic was heavy in Bønes near Bergen. Several places in Western Norway are dealing with heavy, slow traffic. Photo: Pål Bentdal
Due to heavy snow fall in western part of the country, Norway’s Public Roads Administration ask drivers to stay home unless absolutely necessary.
In the Rogaland region, the recent snowfall has created very difficult driving conditions.
“People who can stay home on Sunday definitely should stay up,” advises Lene Westrheim of the Public Roads Administration to VG Nett.
On Sunday night, a single tractor was able to clear E134 in five hours, according to Haugaland and Sunnhordland police.
Police closed the road at 11:20 p.m on Saturday due to the unavailability of snow plows. Motorists had to wait for several hours while the road was closed.
Roads were somewhat clearer on Sunday morning, but there are still plenty of problems on the road.
“It appears that Vegvesenet (Public Roads Administration) responded to manage the situation,” said Haugaland and Sunnhordland police operations manager told VG Nett.
Lene Westrheim admits the challenging situation has not been easy for the cleanup crews.
“There was a lot of snowfall in Haugaland, and we have had some lags in our progress. We are continually working to remove the trees that have fallen,” said Westrheim.
Hordaland police 0perations manager Ole Geir Magnussen in the Hordaland police said the Public Roads Administration is working full force in the area, but there are many reports of trees that have fallen across the road.
“It’s winter conditions, and people should take it easy on the road. Yesterday was the first day we had snow, and then created a lot of problems for vehicles, especially those that are foreign-made. However, we have no reports of accidents today,” said Magnussen on Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning, E16 was the only secure mountain pass from east to west.
Road 13 over Gaularfjel and Vikafjell, Road 7 over Hardangervidda , and Road 52 to Hemsedal are completely closed until further notice.
“This is ver similiar to what it was last year around Christmas. The biggest problem we have is that there is a lot of wind,” said Trude Lindstad of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to VG Nett.
Source: VG Nett
