Road maintenance projects amounting to nearly half a billion krónur that were scheduled for next year will be moved forward to this year, RÚV reports. Due to delays in other road construction projects, the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration has decided to shift ISK 430 million ($3.4m/€3m) of this year’s budget to major maintenance projects.
The near half billion “will be primarily used in top layers, new asphalt, because it’s much needed,” stated Magnús Valur Jóhannsson, director of the Administration’s construction department. “This is for the most part on the most traffic-heavy roads here in South Iceland, for example around Selfoss and Biskupstungur, Geysir for example.” Magnús says the Reykjavík capital area has the heaviest traffic in the country and will also see significant repairs, as well as parts of the Reykjanes peninsula. So-called “improvement projects” will be carried out on roads in both Blönduós, North Iceland and the Þingvellir area in South Iceland.
While the reallocation represents a significant amount, it can be noted that the Road and Coastal Administration normally spends around ISK 6 billion ($47.7m/€42.3m) per year on road repairs. “It was of course clear that maintenance needs are much higher than we have the resources to execute, but fortunately we are now adding to that so hopefully that will improve,” Magnús stated.
