Response to interpellation 2023/24:685 on the safety of European route E45 between Vänersborg and Mellerud
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD considers that E45 is part of the national main road network and that road safety is an important part of infrastructure investments 1. KD argues that reinforcing existing roads is cost-effective 2 and that the government prioritizes improving existing infrastructure and managing resources in the best way 3. KD considers that Trafikverket should work systematically with road safety 3. S considers that the section Vänersborg-Mellerud must be prioritized for expansion to a non-stop road as soon as possible 4. S argues that the expansion is necessary to fulfill the zero vision 5 and that both S-led and conservative governments share responsibility for lack of road maintenance 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Mats Wiking has asked me if I intend to include European route 45 between Vänersborg and Mellerud as a prioritized stretch in the infrastructure plan and, if not, what is required for the stretch to be included.
First, I would like to thank Mats Wiking for the interest regarding accessibility and traffic safety on the Swedish road network. Road E45 is part of the national main road network in Sweden and is a central corridor for both freight and passenger transport, both locally, regionally and nationally, as well as from an EU perspective, as the road is part of the trans-European transport network, TEN-T.
The conditions on road E45 through Dalsland are not unknown to Trafikverket. Just as Mats Wiking states, the section in question is not covered by the current national transport infrastructure plan for the period 2022-2033, which was established by the previous government.
The Government has begun the work on a new national plan for the planning period 2026-2037 by, in a first step, commissioning Trafikverket to submit a directional basis for a new planning period. This assignment was presented on 15 January and is now being prepared within the Government Offices. The basis will form the foundation for an infrastructure bill with new economic frameworks and direction for a new plan.
After the Riksdag has decided on the government bill, including how large the twelve-year economic planning framework shall be, the government will instruct Trafikverket to prepare a proposal for a new national plan for the period 2026-2037. It is only in this part of the process that concrete projects and measures are investigated and analyzed.
The needs within the infrastructure are great, and it is necessary to make thoughtful prioritizations between different measures. It is important that this is done in an orderly process with a sufficient basis. Here, many interests must be weighed against each other, and among other things, road safety and road safety-enhancing measures are of significance.
Mats Wiking (S)
Madam Speaker! In the Fyrbodal municipal association, all 14 municipalities have agreed that the Vänersborg-Mellerud stretch must be prioritized so that an expansion to a meeting-free road can take place as soon as possible. In the last two years, four people have died and four people have been seriously injured. In total, there have been 32 accidents during 2022 and 2023, and the stretch between Vänersborg and Mellerud is only four miles.
Madam Speaker! Just this past winter, a large number of accidents have occurred, especially involving heavy vehicles, with personal injuries and long traffic stoppages as a result. This has had a major impact on all traffic, not least on the rescue services. On one occasion, the E45 was closed for 24 hours.
I want to give a picture here of why this specific stretch is so accident-prone. The stretch lacks parallel lanes for the separation of slow and fast traffic and has 200 exits from properties and local roads, which naturally creates great accident risks. The section also has three level crossings between road and railway, something that was stopped being built as early as 1920.
The stretch is an old alignment from 1840 with two lanes without separation. The road also passes through several built-up areas with a speed limit of 50 kilometers, where traffic is mixed with pedestrian, bicycle, and moped traffic.
E45 is clearly the most traffic-intensive road through Dalsland. It is also a thoroughfare for all traffic from Värmland, primarily from Karlstad for those heading south to Gothenburg and Malmö. During the autumn and winter holidays, traffic increases significantly due to mountain tourism. The stretch is furthermore an important transport route for ambulances from Åmål, Bengtsfors and Dals-Ed to the NÄL hospital in Trollhättan.
Madam Speaker! My follow-up question to the Minister will be what measures he intends to take to reduce the number of accidents on road E45 between Vänersborg and Mellerud.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to once again thank the member for the commitment. Road safety is important. It is a very important part of the investments and measures that are to be made, undertaken, and planned for the infrastructure in Sweden.
Trafikverket works systematically to improve safety on our roads. E45 has varying standards on the stretch between Vänersborg and Mellerud - as the member highlights, there are deficiencies in accessibility and traffic safety. The stretch has previously been identified by Trafikverket as one of the 100 most dangerous in the country.
Two locations that have been noted as particularly traffic-hazardous are the intersection between Tånvägen and the E45, as well as the exits at Nuntorp. At these intersections and at intersections without left-turn lanes and with a large proportion of turning vehicles, there is a risk that cars will come to a standstill waiting for oncoming traffic. This creates flow problems, but above all, it increases the risk of being hit from behind. This is also shown in the accident statistics, as rear-end collisions and vehicles turning off are common causes of traffic accidents.
Madam Speaker! There are, just as Mats Wiking pointed out here, many access points and exits from properties as well as private roads that connect to the E45. Especially in Frändefors and Mellerud, there are many access points and exits over a relatively short distance, which creates traffic safety problems in the form of collisions and heavy braking.
The Speaker raised the very serious accidents that have occurred along the road. It is of course very serious, and it is of course so that every accident is one too many. It is a very great suffering and a great sorrow for all those who are affected – for friends, relatives, and family members who have lost a dear loved one. Therefore, the work on road safety is immensely important.
Regarding the section Vänersborg-Mellerud, I would like to remind the members that the project was included in Trafikverket's list of proposed investments for the current national plans for 2022-2033. The section was thus noted by the authority, but the previous government did not prioritize that it should be included in the current national plans.
As I mentioned, Madam Speaker, we have now begun the work of preparing the new national plan. I cannot anticipate the action planning and the decisions that will follow from the decisions that the Riksdag will make. It is not until this autumn that the Riksdag will make decisions on the direction and the size of the framework. After that, Trafikverket will be tasked with preparing proposals for a new national plan.
I look forward to returning to this part. This is a project and a stretch that has been known for a long time. I believe that the then Vägverket began studies as early as 2003. Several parts along the E45 are addressed, but not specifically Vänersborg-Mellerud.
I would like to thank the member again for the commitment. It is important to take care of the infrastructure we have, maintain where it is needed, and make necessary investments that can secure accessibility and traffic safety on the roads in our elongated country. This is illustrated by the example that the member raises in this debate, Madam Speaker.
Mats Wiking (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to the question. It feels as though the Minister has read up properly and followed the history of this stretch of road over four miles.
Trafikverket has noticed this for a long time, and there have been many discussions. But the project has fallen out of scope a number of times. It is, however, clear that the accidents have increased very sharply. Over 20 years, the traffic on this road has increased by 80 percent on this road, and on a short road in the countryside, that means a large increase. There is talk of 8,000 vehicles or something like that. Since it is one of the roads that goes north from Gothenburg and Malmö, the traffic will probably continue to increase.
Just as the Minister is pointing out, both Sweden's S-led and bourgeois governments share a common responsibility for many years of lack of road maintenance. I agree with the Minister that we Social Democrats did not get it into the plans either. But now it is time to put pride aside and ensure that road 45 between Vänersborg and Mellerud receives the upgrade needed to create safety and security for everyone who needs access to the road.
I am approached several times a month by residents in the area, and an infrastructure group has been formed. Shopkeepers in smaller towns in Dalsland and around Vänersborg are fighting hard to make trade work, and for that, there must be a functioning infrastructure and a functioning road network.
This is extremely important, even if it may feel like a small issue in the Swedish Riksdag. But for those who live in the area and travel on the road every day, it is a major issue. As the Minister pointed out, the Swedish Transport Administration's plan includes a so-called two-plus-one road on the stretch and separated road sections, and these measures would ensure that the number of accidents would be quickly reduced.
I ask the question again: Besides the plans, is there any way the minister can show goodwill so that the residents of Vänersborg and Mellerud feel that the process is moving forward?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Today I want to show as much goodwill as I can, but what many want are concrete decisions on what will happen with this stretch of road which has been included in the proposals but fell out at the end. I cannot anticipate the processes we have, but I can explain which priorities will form the basis for the infrastructure decision. In a first step, Trafikverket was commissioned to produce a directional basis. Then we have had referral meetings, and it has been possible to submit comments on what Trafikverket has produced in the directional basis.
In this context, I think it is very positive when several municipalities join forces and when regional important corridors and investments that need to be made are highlighted, regarding both maintaining the infrastructure we have and achieving better capacity and traffic safety on roads that already exist. The commitment the member describes is therefore positive and much-needed given the large needs that exist on this stretch of road.
Before I was appointed minister, I was a member of the Swedish Riksdag for many years. I engaged in individual so-called smaller projects then, because it is important to have a functioning, robust infrastructure in Sweden from a road safety perspective. Sometimes it may be perceived as small issues, but it is not. The member does not, therefore, need to apologize for raising the issue in the Swedish Riksdag, but on the contrary, I appreciate this engagement. This stretch is heavily trafficked, and the traffic flow is assumed to continue to increase in the future, both regarding passenger car traffic and freight traffic.
An important part of the work in developing the new infrastructure plan and in the next step the measures is to look at socio-economic profitability. Without commenting on this specific stretch, many times reinforcement and expansion of existing roads is something that is relatively cheap and cost-effective with great socio-economic profitability.
Here we have a stretch that is important, not least for freight traffic, and according to the data I have from 2020, the stretch is used by between 5,000 and 12,600 vehicles per year, of which approximately 10-14 percent is heavy traffic, which illustrates how important the stretch is for freight transport. That the accessibility for freight is good is a priority for the government generally speaking, because work commuting and freight traffic are what form the basis for the trade-offs we will make.
I will not anticipate the processes that are underway, but of course, we are trying to conduct them at as high a pace as possible and with respect for the fact that everyone should be given the opportunity to speak. I appreciate the referral meetings we have had at the ministry as a first step towards the infrastructure plan, and I appreciate the dialogue that exists and the respect for the fact that I, as Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, cannot prioritize certain projects. We must collectively see that we have great needs and that it has not been maintained as much as had been needed in the past. Now we stand where we stand, and what do we do together to best increase traffic safety, accessibility, and robustness in the infrastructure?
The insight and self-criticism that the member expresses is welcome, for this is something that several different sides of politics bear responsibility for. Now we stand where we stand, as said, and must look forward and, above all, take the measures required to increase road safety.
Mats Wiking (S)
Madam Speaker! Every week when I open the local newspaper for Trollhättan, Vänersborg, Mellerud and Lilla Edet, Ttela, there has been some accident or collision, sometimes of a serious nature, on the road between Mellerud and Vänersborg, and they have, as they say, increased in recent years, which is not surprising given the number of vehicles traveling there.
Trafikverket, the responsible minister and the local politicians are very much in agreement that this is a measure that should be taken. But the minister is clear that there is a priority order and that a process is now taking place ahead of the infrastructure plan.
However, we cannot escape the fact that accidents have increased year after year and that four accidents with a fatal outcome have occurred. All 14 municipalities are, as stated, in agreement about expanding the E45, also to fulfill the zero vision that the Swedish Riksdag passed in 1997 that no human being should be seriously injured or killed in traffic.
Is there anything more the municipalities and the regions can do, Minister for Infrastructure, to present more facts and underlying data in the development of projects in the infrastructure plan?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! As I have pointed out, this stretch is well known, and it has been investigated several times since 2003. It was included in Trafikverket's proposal for measures in the previous national plan, so the circumstances, the condition, and the risks to traffic safety are well known.
As I said, the needs within the infrastructure are great, and the government's priority will continue to be to improve the infrastructure we have, that is to repair where it is needed and manage our common resources in the best way. Then it is about safeguarding what we have already built and making investments in infrastructure where it is needed.
With the zero vision as the basis for road safety work in Sweden and with the transport policy goals as a starting point, it is important that Trafikverket or municipal road authorities continue to implement the right measures in the road network where they are of benefit. I can also add that Trafikverket has a mandate to work systematically with improving road safety on the Swedish roads. Every death in traffic is a profound tragedy, and good road safety is a very important and prioritized issue for the government. It will of course also be urgent when we prepare the new national plan. Then, of course, this and also other measures will again be on the table.
I cannot anticipate any processes or the decision the Riksdag will make regarding what frameworks the government has to adhere to when measures are to be prioritized. But I want to conclude by thanking the member for the commitment and the tone, because this is something we collectively need to take responsibility for. My closing words are that the government will, of course, do what it can to increase road safety and ensure that Sweden gets a robust and safe infrastructure that can be relied upon.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.