Australian Princess - have our Cross City Tunnel too

While Denmark celebrates a new prince

Papa meets the press
A beaming Crown Prince Frederik talks to the press about the birth of his first son

The City of Cyclists still has to contend with strong growth in car ownership and increasing traffic in Copenhagen. Talk of a huge traffic tunnel under Copenhagen Harbour is linked with ongoing real commitments to public transport. Perhaps Sydney and the RTA can be consultants on how not to develop a new tunnel system ie Sydney's Cross City Tunnel fiasco.

Standstill predicted for tunnel-less Copenhagen An underwater city bypass is proposed as a way to keep Copenhagen's traffic flowing



Traffic in the city of Copenhagen

Without an underwater bypass under Copenhagen Harbour, the city's traffic - and its development - will grind to a halt, according to a new report.
'What we need is visions if we are going to see more growth in the city. Copenhagen needs a harbour tunnel that will be able to direct traffic away from the city,' said Flemming Borreskov, CEO of the Realdania Foundation, which supports public building projects.
The foundation's report proposes constructing a four lane, 12 km tunnel. If construction begins by 2007, the tunnel would be open for traffic in 2017.
The tunnel is expected to cost DKK 18 billion (EUR 2.4 billion) and would be paid for by charging a toll on the estimated 500,000 cars that would pass through the tunnel daily.
For Borreskov, the traffic through the tunnel would mean welcome reduction of traffic on city streets.
Borreskov said that even with planned expansions of public transportation networks, the city still needs to address how to deal with increasing automobile traffic.
'The construction of a circle line, extension of the Metro, and highway widenings are only a half solution if traffic is to keep moving,' he said.
According to the predictions, traffic in Copenhagen is expected to increase by up to 40 percent in the next 40 years and the current infrastructure is expected to buckle under the increase.
Building the tunnel might increase congestion at entry points, but for Peter Lundhus, CEO of Sund & Bælt, the operator of two of Denmark's largest bridges, it is a necessary evil.
'If we don't build the harbour tunnel, congestion on the other roads will grow and create even more traffic in the city,' Lund said.
/ritzau/