Icelandic government faces pressure for increased funding to improve road infrastructure

The Icelandic government is facing increasing pressure to secure more funding for the country’s road infrastructure, which has been neglected for too long. Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, highlights that heavy transport has caused unforeseen wear and tear on the roadways, contributing to an urgent need for improvement.

Jóhannsson noted that the road system has aged significantly, with over half of the primary roads in the country being more than twenty years old. He acknowledged that the government’s investment in road maintenance has more than doubled and even tripled over the past seven years, but he stressed that more resources are required to manage the growing demands on the infrastructure.

Federal Minister of Infrastructure, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, echoed these sentiments, underlining the necessity for significant additional funding for road construction and maintenance. She suggested that large-scale users of the road network should contribute more financially, stating that the burden placed on roads by heavy transport is a consequence that was not anticipated a decade or two ago.

Svavarsdóttir emphasized the need to address the issue in greater depth this winter and has committed to focusing on the road infrastructure in the upcoming legislative period. She expressed that society is in long-term debt regarding transport infrastructure, and improvements are needed to ensure equitable access regardless of geographic location.

As the situation stands, there is a clear recognition from the government that immediate action is needed to enhance Iceland’s transportation network for the future.