The Minister of Infrastructure announced a bill to introduce tolls to all tunnels in the country next year or the year after, reports Vísir. The minister hopes to cover the cost of the Fjarðarheiðar tunnel as well as others that might be built in the future.
The Fjarðarheiðar tunnel will be the longest wall tunnel in Iceland and is expected to cost up to 47 billion ISK. The 17.7 billion in contributions to the transport plan is not enough to cover the cost, so the government hopes to make up the difference through tunnel tolls.
Minister of Infrastructure Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson says he is looking at the Faroese, who have founded an association for tunnel construction. The fee is quite high, but still modest, while people pay back new investments. The fee is then reduced between projects.
The Minister says a bill on the matter will be presented to Althingi this winter.
“Yes, these are expensive projects. But there is no question that in the end, the benefits to society will be enormous,” says Sigurður Ingi.
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