Vestfjarðagöng

Tunnel in Iceland

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Westfjords Tunnel
Overview
East entrance
Location	Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland
Route	60, 65
Operation
Work begun	1991
Opened	1996
Operator	Vegagerðin
Traffic	Automotive
Vehicles per day	700
Technical
Length	9.120 km (5.667 mi)
No. of lanes	1-2

Vestfjarðagöng (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈvɛstˌfjarðaˌkœyŋk] ^ⓘ, regionally also [-ˌkœŋk], "Westfjords Tunnel") is the longest tunnel in Iceland, located in Westfjords in northwestern Iceland. It has a length of 9.1 km (6 mi) 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

^ Merzagora, Eugenio (June 2006). "Road Tunnels in Iceland". The World's Longest Tunnel Page. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2010.

66°03′09″N 23°16′44″W / 66.05250°N 23.27889°W / 66.05250; -23.27889