I want the Bybanen in a tunnel.
Ole-Andreas Næss Elvik steps out of the tunnel and makes his wish for Bybanen public. Photo: Eirik BrekkeOle-Andreas Elvik Næss
Outer Sandviken
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That’s one thing I have never dared to tell people about until now. Something that is embarrassing, embarrassing and not befitting of us liberal, highly educated people.
I want the Bybanen in a tunnel.
And this is simply not something that is easy to say out loud in Bergen today. Despite the fact that several of the major parties have changed their minds over the years, there is now a large political consensus that if you want to be perceived as a respectable person who wants the best for society, then you should not think anything other than that the Bylane should go over Bryggen.
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For my part it seems obvious that it is better to put the Bybanen in a long tunnel under the city centre. After all, we build tunnels all over the country – even where hardly any people live.
So then one would probably think that it is justifiable to build a tunnel under Bergen as well, and then one could rather be a little flexible about where the exits should be to avoid damaging cultural monuments.
Since Bergen has a unique, narrow city centre, it will be particularly important that there is room for people walking there in the future as well.
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As long as it was believed that light rail over Bryggen was a much cheaper alternative, the debate was perceived as a battle between the moderate Bryggen supporters and the wasteful tunnel populists.
But this argument was probably not so important after all, after the price difference turned out to be smaller than expected.
My opinion is not, however, the central point here, since it is hardly more well-founded than other people’s opinions. But if there are many who feel the same way as me, then it may be that the debate has suppressed a number of relevant voices who have good arguments for tunnels.
Rødt veteran Torstein Dahle is one of those fighting for the Bybanen to go in a tunnel – not along Bryggen. Photo: Marita Aarekol (archive)
Perhaps an archaeologist out there actually knows that excavations will delay the Bylan over Bryggen by many years? Perhaps there is an experienced engineer with a good tunnel solution, but who is quiet because he knows that all input is met with comments such as “OK boomer” or “white man pushing 50 thinks he has the answer as always”?
Whether there will be a light rail over Bryggen or in a tunnel is not really the most important thing in this debate. Because even if light rail over Bryggen may be a bad choice, it will hardly destroy our city. But what is about to destroy the city, however, is the toxic debate about the Bybanen.
Have you refrained from saying what you think about Bybanen’s further development?
If the politicians don’t want to reopen the light rail discussion, they should at least be open about the fact that the desire for light rail in a tunnel is a legitimate political opinion.
They must recognize that no major political decision is optimal in all ways at the same time.
In other words, both the tunnel and Bryggen supporters have good arguments for their case. So one can easily argue that what is done is done, and that we should now look ahead, and that Bergen has more important things to do in the future.
But if you continue to maintain a political debate environment where only one side of the debate is considered politically acceptable, then it will only make the other side’s opinions even more suppressed.
And who knows what happens if the powder keg finally explodes – maybe we’ll get a Trump in Bergen too?
Published:
Published: September 17, 2023 2:00 p.m
2023-09-17 12:00:40
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