Ring Road To Be Shortened By 12 Kilometres

Extensive road construction around Hornafjörður, East Iceland, will be completed before the New Year. This will shorten the Ring Road by 12 kilometres, reports RÚV.

The project completion is on schedule, according to an announcement from the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (Vegagerðin), quoting Aron Örn Karlsson, site manager at the contracting company Ístak, who says progress has been good.

The project is described as very extensive by Icelandic standards. The new road section is about 19 kilometres long, in addition to nine kilometres of side roads and four two-lane bridges. These replace three single-lane bridges, including the 255-metre-long bridge over Hornafjarðarfljót, which was the longest single-lane bridge in the country. It was taken into use in 1961.

Two rest areas will be built along the route. The road is expected to be fully paved by the end of August, after which only a roundabout remains to be installed at its eastern end. The improvements will replace the T-junction with Hafnarvegur and the Nesjahverfi neighbourhood.

In conversation with RÚV, Aron says that an average of about 40 people have worked on the road construction since it began in late summer 2022. That the number doubled from autumn 2023 until the end of last year, when bridge construction was at its peak.