Two lanes of a bridge that’s part of the heavily trafficked four-lane E18 highway south of Oslo are set to reopen on Friday, the Transport Ministry announced on Wednesday. That’s expected to greatly relieve traffic congestion as summer holidaymakers head for Norway’s popular southern coast.
The highway has been closed since February, when the two southbound lanes of the bridge suddenly collapsed. No one was injured, but all traffic has since been detoured through the town of Holmestrand, causing lengthy delays.
As the summer driving season gets underway in earnest this weekend, transportation officials were scrambling to at least reopen the two undamaged northbound lanes of the Skjeggestad Bridge near Holmestrand. They were due to open Sunday but now they’ll open to two-way traffic in time for the weekend rush out out of Oslo and Bærum.
newsinenglish.no staff
