Södertälje canal tunnel proposal, Digi Mart USA News (Södertälje, Sweden): A citizen proposal asks the municipality to study a tunnel under the canal to address inner-city traffic problems. The proposal also calls for an impact analysis of such a project.
In its response, the municipality states that it has worked for several years to secure a passage under the canal and that the issue has been raised with the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket). According to the municipality, the government has set aside funds for an updated basis for assessing the canal passage.
The municipality cites the changed international situation and the need for a less vulnerable transport system as key reasons.
As Telgenytt previously reported, Trafikverket proposed widening the motorway bridge in front of a tunnel in the draft national infrastructure plan. Tunnel plans, however, were not described as having been dropped.
The direction drew criticism from companies including Scania and AstraZeneca, which pointed to the importance of the canal crossing for industrial transport. Municipal executive committee chair Boel Godner (S) also called for a tunnel to reduce vulnerability.
A tunnel is also described in an earlier impact assessment approved by Trafikverket in 2021. That study examined a connection from Oxbacksleden/Nyköpingsvägen to Rosenlund, with links to the E4 at Moraberg.
The full package, which also included Sagoleden and a new interchange at Hovsjö, was then estimated to cost about SEK 3.9 billion at 2019 price levels. The measures were judged likely to improve accessibility and reduce vulnerability during disruptions, but the package as a whole was assessed as socioeconomically unprofitable.
According to the municipality’s response, the capacity upgrade of the E4/E20 Södertälje Bridge remains in the national plan. That measure is linked to Förbifart Stockholm and includes widening the bridge from two to three lanes in each direction.
Trafikverket has contacted Södertälje Municipality, and meetings have been held at the official level. Cooperation is to continue both on the capacity upgrade and on the study of further measures at the canal.
Municipal executive committee chair Boel Godner, who is stepping down, moved approval of the administration’s proposed decision, and the executive committee decided to consider the citizen proposal answered.
