This is no ordinary roundabout. Looming at the end of an 11km-long tunnel under the North Atlantic, it looks like a giant jellyfish, illuminated with aquamarine lighting and surrounded by lifesize dancing figures.
Aside from its striking appearance, it’s been called the first underwater roundabout, sitting at a junction of the newest of the tunnels that link the two most populous Faroe Islands: Streymoy and Eysturoy. It marks the geographical centre of the Faroe Islands, and could even become a draw for foreign tourists.
“We think people will drive through the tunnel just for the experience,” says Teitur Samuelsen, CEO of the Faroese tunnel company that raised the €360m for the Eysturoyartunnilin and another, of similar length, which will connect Streymoy with the southerly island of Sandoy in 2023. That’s an investment of around €50,000 per inhabitant, financed by the Faroese government and private venture capital from abroad.
The tunnels are the Faroes’ largest infrastructure project and another example of the fast-paced economic development of these islands, which have seen a rapid expansion of the capital Tórshavn and a big increase in international tourism – albeit stymied this year by coronavirus. In spite of the downturn, two new hotels opened in Tórshavn this autumn (the Hilton Garden Inn, and Hotel Brandan), doubling the city’s bed capacity, and Atlantic Airways, the national airline, received its newest Airbus A320neo in June.
When travellers do return, they will find it easier, and quicker to reach the much-less-visited northern islands, which are currently about 90 minutes drive along winding roads around the fjords. The new tunnel cuts the driving time from the capital to the second biggest settlement – the fishing port of Klaksvík – in half, meaning some of the tourism revenue should spread beyond the capital region.
“We hope this new infrastructure will help spread some of the tourism benefits more widely around the north-east of the Faroe Islands,” says Visit Faroe Islands director Guðrið Højgaard, “and perhaps encourage Faroese businesses to cater for visitors more.”
While some local residents fear that the new tunnel will result in traffic jams in the tiny capital (which only has three sets of traffic lights), one potential benefit is that it may slow or arrest the depopulation of some of the Faroes’ smaller settlements. The drive behind the ambitious tunneling network is partly about keeping communities on smaller islands viable. The 1,200 residents of Sandoy, many of whom work in the capital, rely on a small car ferry, but this is sometimes cancelled due to the Faroes’ changeable weather and high winds.
The Eysturoyartunnilin is due to…
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