Large motorway bridges are expensive to build, to say the least, and when the Sundsvall Bridge was inaugurated in December 2014, it had cost approximately SEK 1.9 billion.
To help pay for the bridge, an infrastructure fee was introduced in February 2015, which became a hotly debated topic – not least among Sundsvalls residents.
Originally, the bridge toll was to be charged over a span of around 35 years, but according to a new announcement, the toll can be removed prematurely, reports SVT.
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The bridge toll annoys many
The fee for driving over the Sundsvall Bridge is SEK 9 for cars and SEK 20 for heavy trucks.
The money from the fees is used to pay back the loan of SEK 1.3 billion that was taken from the National Debt Office in connection with the construction.
The toll on the Sundsvallsbron has irritated many motorists – Photo: Fredrik Sandberg
The bridge toll angered many motorists, not least among the locals in Sundsvall, and many even swore that they would never drive over the bridge as long as the toll remained in place.
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Runs faster than expected
However, it has been found that the bridge tolls generate more money than expected.
Already in 2022, the Swedish Transport Administration stated that it would be possible to remove the bridge toll already after 28 years, instead of the original 35.
Now SVT Västernorrland has requested information on how much money the fees have collected in total since the start, which at the end of June 2024 amounted to SEK 622 million. A large part of that sum consists of late fees and additional fees.
SVT calculates that this means that the bridge will be paid off already in 12 to 13 years from today’s date, which is more than 10 years earlier than planned.
However, the Swedish Transport Agency will not release a new forecast on the issue until next year at the earliest.
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Not the only toll bridge
The Sundsvallsbron is not the only bridge in Sweden that is subject to an infrastructure fee.
At the same time as the fee was introduced on the Sundsvalls bridge, the same was also done on the newly built Motala bridge in Motala, where the fee per passage is SEK 5 for passenger cars and SEK 11 for heavy trucks.
A more extreme example is the Öresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark, where the standard prices per crossing are SEK 785 for cars and between SEK 1,570 and 2,480 for heavy trucks.
The latest example of a bridge with an infrastructure fee is the new Skurubron in Nacka outside Stockholm, which was inaugurated in 2023. Driving over the new Skurubron costs SEK 4 per passage for both passenger cars and heavy trucks.
The bridge toll in Nacka, just like in Sundsvall, has caused many local residents to see red, and many also choose to drive off the highway and use the old bridge, which is still toll-free.
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