The Arna Tunnel ( no, Arnatunnelen) was a proposed road tunnel which would run from Arna through the mountain

Ulriken Ulriken (or the older, ''Ålreken'') is the highest of the Seven Mountains ( no, De syv fjell) that surround the city of Bergen, Norway. It has a height of above sea level. Ulriken has an aerial tramway, Ulriksbanen, that can bring people to the ...

to Minde or Nygårdstangen in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It was planned to have two tubes, four lanes, and would be long. It would shorten the distance of European Road 16 (E16) between Bergen and Arna by . Currently E16 runs north from Arna to

Åsane Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre. Åsane is connected to downtown Bergen by the E16/ E39 highway. The E16 highway continues on t ...

as a

limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

and then runs concurrently with E39 as a four-lane

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

to the city center, a distance of . By building a tunnel directly from Arna to the city centre, this distance would be reduced to . Alternatively, cars can drive via County Road 580 via

Nesttun Nesttun is an urban settlement in the borough of Fana in the municipality of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. It is located approximately south of the city centre. It was the centre of the old Fana municipality, which merged with Bergen in 1972 ...

, which is to the city center, but this road has much lower standard than E16. The Arna Tunnel would allow a 15-minute reduction in travel time for all cars running from the city centre and from Bergen West, including

Askøy Askøy is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island municipality is located in the Midhordland district of the county, sitting in a large group of islands immediately northwest of the city of Bergen. The administrative centre of the ...

and

Sotra Sotra or Store Sotra is the name of a large island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, located just west of the city of Bergen. It is part of a pair of islands called 'Sotra' and 'Litlesotra' ('small Sotra') that are part of a ...

, eastwards, including the main routes to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. It would also give the same time saving for transport for commuter from Arna,

Voss Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, Opphe ...

, parts of

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...

and

Osterøy Osterøy is an island municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The municipality encompasses most of the island of Osterøy. The administrative centre of Osterøy is the village of Lon ...

, and would remove the need for the ferry from Osterøy, as all of Osterøy could use the

Osterøy Bridge The Osterøy Bridge ( no, Osterøybrua) is a suspension bridge in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the Kvisti farm area on the island of Osterøy in Osterøy Municipality with the Herland farm area on the mainland in Bergen Municipa ...

. In contrast to the roadway, the

Bergen Line The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, ...

runs through the mountain in the

Ulriken Tunnel The Ulriken Tunnel ( no, Ulrikstunnelen) is a railway tunnel on the Bergen Line between Bergen Station and Arna Station in Bergen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Original (old) tunnel The existing long tunnel runs under the north ...

, and Vy Tog operate a service with the

Bergen Commuter Rail Bergen Commuter Rail, sometimes called Vossebanen, is a commuter rail service between Bergen and Arna, Voss and Myrdal, Norway. It is operated by Vy using Stadler FLIRT electric multiple units. It runs on the mainline Bergen Line and all servic ...

between Bergen Station and Arna Station every 30 minutes. The

Norwegian National Rail Administration The Norwegian National Rail Administration ( no, Jernbaneverket) was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic m ...

is planning to expand the Ulriken Tunnel to

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

, which would allow increased traffic on the whole Bergen Line and a 15-minute

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...

on the Bergen–Arna service. The construction is scheduled for completion in 2016. An alternative has been to build a branch of the

Bergen Light Rail Bergen Light Rail ( no, Bybanen) is a light rail system in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project was a twenty-station stretch between the city center and Lagunen Storsenter, where the first 15 stations comprising a stretch opened in ...

to Arna through its own tunnel through Ulrikken. Nygårdstangen acts as the main interchange in the city center, and distributes traffic between the city centre, traffic westwards along National Road 555 via the Nygård Tunnel, southwards along E39 along the Nygård Bridge and northwards along E39 and E16 through the

Fløyfjell Tunnel The Fløyfjell Tunnel ( no, Fløyfjelltunnelen) is a road tunnel in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel goes through the Fløyfjellet mountain massif between the city neighborhoods of Sandviken and Kalfaret. The tunnel was ...

. By 2015, it is estimated that the interchange would have 97,000 vehicles per day if the Arna Tunnel is not built, and 114,000 vehicles per day if the Arna Tunnel is built. This exceeds the interchange's capacity, and would result in severe congestion. A possible remedy is to build both the Arna Tunnel and extend the Fløyfjell Tunnel to the planned Minde Tunnel, which would run from Fjøsanger to

Danmarksplass Danmarks plass is a square in Årstad borough in the city of Bergen, Norway. Today most famous as one of Norway's busiest road intersections, it was originally known as "Kronstadtorget". After World War II, it received its current name in honou ...

. This would require the Arna Tunnel to be built after the Minde Tunnel, the latter which is not included in any plans until 2019. If the Arna Tunnel is built, buses operating to Arna would probably continue through the tunnel to the city centre, thus ending the commuter train service. This would give an increased number of buses through the city centre, which is already experiencing bus congestion. The Ulriken Tunnel is being expanded to double track during 2016-2020 which instead will increase the train traffic. The Road administration has decided not to build to build the Arna Tunnel, instead build a Ring road East around 2030-2035. It will be a 4 lane road east of the Ulriken mountain, bypassing the city Bergen, and including a shorter tunnel at Fjøsanger and eastwards.

References

{{authority control Proposed tunnels in Norway Road tunnels in Bergen European route E16 in Norway