Impatient Asker mayor wants electric cars back in the public transport lane on the E18

The electric cars have been thrown out of the public transport field to reduce traffic into Oslo because Ring 1 will be closed for three years. It has spread beyond local roads in Asker, where there are often slow-moving queues at weekends.

Transport Minister Jon Ivar Nygård (Ap) has opened the door to presenting a proposal to allow electric cars to return to the public transport lanes at weekends in order to reduce the pressure, writes The messenger.

This proposal must be consulted on, and then approved by both the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and the ministry. The Swedish Road Administration will not answer the newspaper when this will happen, or whether a hearing is necessary.

– The least you need in this case is a consultation round with us, Bærum and the county council. We have been extremely clear that the queues on the E18 at weekends are choking us as a local community, says mayor Lene Conradi (H) in Asker to the newspaper.

Conradi has also complained about the transport minister’s unwillingness to meet about the matter, but the minister has now said that he wants a meeting with the mayors of Asker and Bærum.

– Now that we are beginning to gain more knowledge about the consequences of the closure in various places, it will be natural to hold such a meeting, Nygård told Budstikka earlier this week.