The Festning Tunnel ( no, Festningstunnelen) is a

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 ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

European Route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jo ...

in the city center of

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 ...

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 the ...

. The tunnel has two tubes, with three lanes in each. It runs from Bjørvika, under

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress ...

, The City Hall Square and Vika to

Filipstad Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Duke Carl Philip (1601&n ...

. The tunnel is and elevation at the deepest. The tunnel was previously also known as the Mountain Line () and the Oslo Tunnel (). The name

Fjellinjen Fjellinjen AS is a toll company owned by the City of Oslo (60%) and Viken County Municipality (40%). It is responsible for the collection from the toll ring around Oslo, with a total of nineteen toll plazas. All toll roads in Norway have a toll ...

was since taken over by the company responsible for charging toll fees on the urban toll ring in Oslo. The tunnel changed its official name from the Oslo Tunnel to the Festning Tunnel in 1998 to avoid confusion with the railway tunnel with the same name. In 2008 and 2009, the electrical installation in the tunnel is being upgraded, financed through toll fees, costing . Map Festningstunnelen

In the west, the tunnel connects to Dronning Mauds gate with a cloverleaf intersection, and also has the intersection prepared for a future Slottspark Tunnel. In the east, it connects to Nylandsveien and Ring 1 at Bjørvika. In 2012, the Bjørvika Tunnel will be constructed below Bjørvika, and the new tunnel will connect directly with the Festning Tunnel. The tunnel was built to remove traffic from The City Hall Square, the square in front of the Oslo City Hall, and allow better access to the waterfront from the city. After the tunnel opened in January 1990, cars remained on The City Hall Square until 1994. In 1995, the Vika Line of the

Oslo Tramway The Oslo tram network ( no, Trikken i Oslo, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who ...

was built across the square.

References

{{reflist Tunnels completed in 1990 European route E18 in Norway Road tunnels in Oslo 1990 establishments in Norway Toll tunnels in Norway