The Løvstakken Tunnel () is a

road tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

in the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The tunnel connects the

Fyllingsdalen Fyllingsdalen () is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located southwest of the city centre in the Fyllingsdalen valley, west of the mountain Løvstakken. The neighbourhoods of Fyllingsdalen mainly consis ...

area with the eastern part of the borough of

Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located in the western part of the municipality. Historically, the area was called ''Laxevaag'', and it was a separate municipality until 1972 when it was ...

and the city centre. It was built in 1968 to improve connectivity with the newly developed area. The tunnel had an average daily traffic of 17,015 vehicles in 2007, down from 17,702 vehicles in 2000. The tunnel is long. In 2002, a safety study by the German company Deutsche Technologie found serious shortcomings in the tunnel's safety, and among 30 European tunnels studied, the tunnel was ranked in 27th place. To improve matters, the flammable

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bott ...

foam in the tunnel was removed, fire extinguishers and emergency phones were installed at and intervals respectively, surveillance cameras, emergency lighting, and emergency signage were introduced, and the

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

was reduced from . This raised the safety standard to minimum requirements, but the traffic volume is still large for a single tunnel.

References

Road tunnels in Bergen 1968 establishments in Norway Tunnels completed in 1968 {{Norway-tunnel-stub