Anneli Lindberg at the Swedish Transport Administration is the project manager for the Gumboda-Grimsmark stage.
The widening of the E4 between Umeå and Skellefteå is carried out from south to north and next up is the stage between Gumboda–Grimsmark. A 15 kilometre stretch of road that starts at the north entrance to Robertsfors, runs through Ånäset and ends one kilometre in to Skellefteå Municipality.
The road is widened, will be furnished with dividers in the middle, many exits will be removed and there will be two tunnels where pedestrians and cyclists can cross the road. There will also be two wildlife crossings where the local fauna can cross safely. There will be one to the south and one to the north of Ånäset.
However there will be no flyovers for car traffic, those who are coming in or out of Ånäset will continue to turn at regular level crossings.
A set road plan for all of this has been in place for years. The detailed plan is also finished, and has been for about six months.
The job is currently in a procurement process and companies that want to build the road must submit a tender at the end of March at the latest.
– The construction must start in 2025 and be finished no later than October 2027. The contractor gets to choose how they plan the work within this time frame. That's why I can’t say exactly when the work is going to start, says Anneli Lindberg.
The project will start by blasting as there is a lot of rock next to the current E4 road. These are locations where it is not possible to reroute the traffic so the whole E4 simply has to be closed off in both directions when the explosions are set off.
– This must be done in the day time due to the noise it makes. It will be well-planned and the bus companies will be informed in case they need to change their departure times.
Each time the road is closed it will take at least 15 minutes. In addition to the blasting the workers will also need time to remove any rocks that land on the road.
Other things that will happen is that the two wildlife crossings are built, as well as a new E4 bridge over Kålabodaån at Ånäset. The new bridge over the river will be higher than the current one and also longer and will therefore be a pretty grand construction.
Example of a bridge for animals. The pink road embankment is temporary in order to reroute the E4 traffic during the construction period. Two of these wildlife crossings will be built.
– In places where it is needed we will build temporary by-pass routes, also in Ånäset. We are therefore currently not planning any re-routing through the town.
At Ånäset the E4 is moved slightly to the left which is why the two cheese grater sculpture must be moved which Norran recently reported.
As there is a bidding process ongoing she does not want to reveal the detailed budget but in the national transport plan the government has allocated SEK 521 million.