A new major motorway will connect the Danish city of Aalborg to the nearby island of Egholm. There is currently a ferry service to and from the island but the new highway will replace this, making travel even more convenient for the people of Denmark.
The new motorway will be an important route for Aalborg, reducing journey times and allowing traffic around the city.
Some have highlighted concerns about the cost of the project. A study from the Danish Road Directorate has criticised the project.
Aalborg is in the Jutland region of Denmark. It’s an ancient city linking back to Viking times, where the Viking ships used to sail past the Limfjord.
The city is considered a cultural highlight and was even included in the New York Times Top Ten Places To Go in 2019.
There are currently two ferries from Aalborg to the island of Egholm, Egholm and Egholm II. The smaller ferry, called Egholm, can hold around 29 people and sails regularly every half hour, while Egholm II can ferry 96 people and 10 cars.
The new motorway would replace these ferry services to the island and is part of a larger project involving the construction of nine motorways in Denmark.
Denmark has also committed to cutting emissions by 70 per cent by 2030, and some people are worried these motorways will hinder this.
Speaking about the project, Denmark’s finance minister said: “There is no reason to hide the fact that this agreement is not what will get us to the goal of our climate challenge. That will come from all the other things we are going to do.”
Henning Hyllested, the Red-Green Alliance’s transport spokesperson said in 2021 when the project was announced: “We are not giving our name to those black highways that destroy our climate and roar through beautiful nature, and which do not solve the congestion problems it is claimed that they solve.”
The Danish government claimed that the projects in the plan were CO2-neutral, in contrast to former infrastructure agreements.
The budget for the new motorway connecting Aalborg and Egholm is estimated to be €1.2 billion.