“The problem goes back to the economic collapse when road maintenance was drastically cut and has not been recovered. These are 15-16 years where maintenance funds have been ISK 10 billion a year when it should have been ISK 20 billion,” says Sigþór Sigurðsson, CEO of Colas.
The road system in Iceland is estimated at ISK 12,000 billion and Sigurðsson says that from that fact it is clear what amounts need to be spent on maintenance.
Calls for a long-term plan
“Last year, ISK 12 billion was invested in maintenance, which is one percent of the total investment. The maximum lifespan of such roads is perhaps 40 years and then of course with maintenance of the pavement. This shows that maintenance funds need to be at least double.”
He says that the situation as it is calls for a long-term plan. The state of the road system has become such that the Icelandic Road Administration is losing roads to disrepair and it will be many times more expensive to rebuild them.
The road system in Iceland is 26,000 kilometers, 1,200 bridges, 14 tunnels, 4 airports for international flights, and 37 ports that the Icelandic Road Administration manages.
“We are a small nation in a large country and transportation is run in a very inefficient manner. This is a complex task and therefore extremely important to run it better. Although we are one of the richest nations in the world, this is a heavy operation that must be addressed. I don’t think the politicians are quite on board with how society is structured and how priorities need to be set.”
Source: Icelandmonitor.mbl.is
