Vestfjarðagöng Explained

Westfjords Tunnel

Location:

Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland

Route:

60, 65

Startwork:

1991

Opened:

1996

Operator:

Vegagerðin

Traffic:

Automotive

Vpd:

700

Length:

9.12km (05.67miles)

Lanes:

1-2

Embedded:

Wikidata:

yes

Vestfjarðagöng (pronounced as /is/, regionally also in Icelandic pronounced as /-ˌkœŋk/, "Westfjords Tunnel") is the longest tunnel in Iceland, located in Westfjords in northwestern Iceland. It has a length of 9.10NaN0 and was opened in September 1996.^[1]

The tunnel has three entrances and the three arms meet at junction in the tunnel. The three arms are known as:

Breiðadalur, 4,150 m (13,615 ft), which gives access to Flateyri and the south-western part of the Westfjords;
Botnsdalur 2,907 m (9,537 ft), which gives access to the village of Suðureyri to the west, a dead end route;
Tungudalur 2,103 m (6,900 ft), which gives access to Ísafjörður and the northern part of the Westfjords.

Only the Tungudalur arm has two lanes throughout. Much of the rest of the tunnel has only one lane with passing places, with traffic light control at curved sections to avoid collisions.

The tunnel avoids the Breiðadalsheiði road pass, the summit of which at 610m was formerly the highest pass in regular use in the Westfjords. It was frequently blocked by snow and prone to avalanches.

References

66.0525°N -23.2789°W

Notes and References

Web site: Road Tunnels in Iceland . November 3, 2010 . Merzagora . Eugenio . June 2006 . The World's Longest Tunnel Page . July 28, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200728181444/http://www.lotsberg.net/data/iceland/list.html . dead .