Straumsundet bridge landslide Sotra traffic, Digi Mart USA News (Øygarden, Norway): A landslide at Straumsundet bridge has closed one lane of National Road 555 from Sotra toward Bergen, causing major traffic problems during the afternoon rush hour.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s traffic control center said the closed lane is not expected to reopen before 4:00 p.m. at the earliest.
Police received a report of the landslide under Straumsundet bridge in Øygarden at 11:14 a.m.
The slide occurred while concrete work was underway at Straumsundet, when masses of earth gave way along the road. West police operations leader Knut Dahl-Michelsen said there should be no danger to the bridge itself.
Traffic control said clearing the slide will take many hours. Police directed traffic manually earlier in the day, and traffic lights have now been installed.
By 3:00 p.m., heavy congestion was reported in both directions. Queues from Bergen began at Lianakk tunnel in Laksevåg, while traffic from Sotra backed up through the entire Kolltveit tunnel.
Traffic control estimated delays of up to one hour.
Øygarden municipality extended opening hours at its kindergartens and after-school programs to accommodate parents delayed by the queues. Municipal official Marius Sylta said school bus transport at several schools may also be delayed.
Parents who cannot collect their children were asked to arrange alternative pickup.
Øygarden mayor Tom Georg Indrevik of the Conservative Party said such incidents are very demanding. He urged everyone who can avoid the route to do so and said the affected area includes the stretch between Straume and Kolltveit, all of western Bergen, and the rest of Øygarden.
Indrevik said authorities are doing everything possible to reopen the road by tomorrow.
