From October 14 to 18, 500 cars on average per day, ranging from 381 to 635, passed through the new Hédinsfjardargöng tunnel connecting the towns Siglufjördur and Ólafsfjördur in north Iceland, according to preliminary numbers from the Icelandic Road Administration.
Hédinsfjardargöng at the opening. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
These numbers, which are considered unusually high for the season, do not include the opening weekend. It is expected that the summer traffic through the tunnel will be even higher, Morgunbladid reports.
When the tunnel construction was originally discussed it wasn’t assumed that the project would be profitable unless 350 cars per day were to pass through the tunnel on average over the course of one year. Many people believed the traffic wouldn’t be that high.
Fridleifur Ingi Brynjarsson, task manager at the Road Administration’s traffic department, said a weather station will be established 100 meters west of the eastern mouth of the tunnel in Hédinsfjördur. An easily-readable counter will be connected to the weather station.
Click here to read more about the new tunnel.
