Airy proposals for a track over Ullandhaug are based on old, outdated notions that this will be beneficial for the climate and the environment. The opposite is the case. Nor will such a transport solution significantly contribute to increased use of public transport or to meeting the 0-growth target. On the other hand, it will require increased investment funds in the billions range, compared to building on the adopted scheme for public transport.
While the Conservative Party ensured a majority in the municipal council in Stavanger to prepare a municipal sub-plan for a rail public transport connection over Ullandhaug, the Conservative Party’s politicians in the county made sure to stop the initiative at the first opportunity. It says something about how frivolous it is to promise voters new track routes, contrary to adopted area strategies. For the Labor Party, it is more important to find solutions that can be realised, than to play a double game about rails.
A hypothetical rail route from the center of Stavanger to Ullandhaug and Sola would involve the establishment of a traffic corridor over agricultural and green areas, which violates the objectives for land use and mobility in the municipal plan. The municipal plan continues a development strategy where development is to be concentrated along defined public transport axes, served by an attractive bus road system with a standard almost equal to a light rail. With an increased emphasis on the conservation of agricultural and green areas in the area part of the municipal plan and the Regional Plan for Jæren, the degree of conflict increases. If the municipality were to unilaterally carry out such a project, it would be in conflict with the Urban Growth Agreement, which Stavanger municipality has undertaken to use as a basis for its spatial and transport planning.
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The Labor Party believes it is urgent to put in place a better public transport service to Ullandhaug. This will be particularly important when the new SUS opens. An improved public transport connection between the center of Stavanger and Ullandhaug has been included in the municipal plan and the Urban Growth Agreement. There are several alternatives based on a busway/bus-based concept. Several of these are under investigation by the county council. Of course, Stavanger municipality cannot count on getting approval to include a highly expensive rail transport solution in the project portfolio of the Urban Growth Agreement, which does not contribute, but makes it more difficult to achieve the goals in the agreement. This also puts state funds for monitoring results in the agreement into play. The municipality must therefore bear the costs themselves, and reduce its ability to finance other measures that are part of the municipality’s Climate and Environment Plan. Going it alone from Stavanger municipality will also undermine the basis for the regional cooperation that is necessary to achieve the municipality’s goals on climate and environment, soil conservation and natural values.
The proposal to investigate and make plans for a rail solution to Ullandhaug comes from party groupings that have not yet come to terms with the fact that a bus road system was chosen over a plan for a light rail.
In 2019, Norconsult delivered a study that assessed several alternative solutions for rail-based solutions compared to a bus-based system. Norconsult’s recommendation was that they did not proceed with the study of a rail-based solution to serve the Ullandhaug area. The justification was, among other things, that this would only have marginal effects for public transport, would entail high investment costs and require a total restructuring of the current area strategy in order to build up under a rail-based system. The county council agreed with this and decided not to proceed with these options.
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Cost increases have already made it necessary for the county council and the municipalities to accept changes and postponements of adopted measures in order to keep the budget for the project portfolio of the Urban Growth Agreement. The financial situation for the state, the county council and the municipality will be demanding in light of the many tasks to be solved within uncertain cost frameworks with strong price increases. The projects that can be carried out within the transport sector must be able to document cost-effectiveness in relation to the social goals to be met. A rail-based transport system between Stavanger and Ullandhaug will not come close to fulfilling such a requirement.
Against this background, it is strange that a majority in Stavanger municipal council has nevertheless chosen to use planning resources to facilitate such a transport solution when revising the municipal plan. We cannot build the city according to the whimsical method. It’s time to put the track dead.