The Folgefonna Tunnel ( no, Folgefonntunnelen) is a long road tunnel in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

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 connects the village of Eitrheim and the town of Odda at the head of Sørfjorden in

Ullensvang Municipality Ullensvang is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre is the town of Odda. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Lofthus, Utne, Vikebygd, ...

to the village of

Austrepollen Austrepollen is a village in the Mauranger area of Kvinnherad municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the Maurangsfjorden, about east of the village of Gjetingsdalen and about northeast of the village of S ...

at the head of

Maurangsfjorden Maurangerfjord or Maurangsfjorden is a fjord in Kvinnherad Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord is a small branch off of the main Hardangerfjorden. The inner end of the Maurangsfjorden branches into the ''Nordrepollen'' and ...

Kvinnherad Kvinnherad is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland, along the Hardangerfjorden. The municipality was the 5th in size in former Hordaland county. The administrative centre of the mu ...

municipality. The tunnel runs under the large

Folgefonna Folgefonna is a collective term for three plateau glaciers in the Hardanger region of Vestland county, Norway. They are located on the Folgefonna peninsula in the municipalities of Ullensvang, Kvinnherad, and Etne. The three glaciers are: * Nord ...

glacier and

Folgefonna National Park Folgefonna National Park ( no, Folgefonna nasjonalpark) is a national park in Vestland county, Norway. The park is located on the Folgefonna peninsula and it spans the municipalities of Kvinnherad, Etne, and Ullensvang. The national park was ope ...

. The tunnel opened in 2001 and is Norway's fourth longest road tunnel. It reduced travel time between these two places from four hours all the way down to ten minutes. It is part of County Road 49. In year 2012, the long

Jondal Tunnel The Jondal Tunnel ( no, Jondalstunnelen) is a road tunnel in the Hardanger region of Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel is part of Norwegian County Road 49 and it lies in Kvinnherad and Ullensvang municipalities. The long tunnel was built to ...

was built a short distance from this tunnel. Using these two tunnels and a ferry, the road distance between the E134 highway in the town of Odda and the city of

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 o ...

is much shorter than before. Using this route to travel from Oslo to Bergen is shorter than taking the E16 highway, and this route is much less sensitive to snow storms in the winter (which is fairly long in the mountains) than by taking

Norwegian National Road 7 Norwegian National Road 7 ( no, Riksvei 7, ) is a national road in Norway which runs from the town of Hønefoss in Viken county to the village of Granvin in Vestland county. The route is long and runs east–west through Viken and Vestland c ...

(which is the shortest route between Oslo and Bergen).

References

Road tunnels in Vestland Ullensvang Kvinnherad 2001 establishments in Norway Tunnels completed in 2001 {{Vestland-geo-stub