Where should the road, railway, pedestrian and bicycle path to Boden Industrial Park and H2 Green Steel really be drawn? The physical planning unit at Boden municipality has been working hard on this issue for a long time. Now there is a suggestion.
On Monday 28 February, the municipality of Boden will present a proposal for a detailed plan for the Svartbyn Infrastructure area. It proposes the route for the railway, road and pedestrian and bicycle path from Södra Svartbyn’s traffic junction on road 97 and out to Boden Industrial Park near Norra Svartbyn in Boden. In the future, the road infrastructure will also connect to the existing road 605 towards Flarken. The plan proposal ensures public access to the Gruvberget outdoor area.
– Boden Industrial Park will be the world’s greenest industrial area, therefore both roads and railways will be built as well as pedestrian and bicycle paths so that it is possible to get to the area in several different ways and that goods can of course be transported by rail. This new infrastructure corridor will be built in the best possible way with regard to both the environment and those who live in the immediate area, says Claes Nordmark, chairman of the municipal board and municipal councilor in Boden municipality.
3D rendering across the infrastructure corridor and H2 Green Steel’s planned facility in the first phase. Movie: Sweco
Proposed route
The road is proposed to be laid between Gamla Lulevägen and road 605 with a length of around four kilometers, of which approximately 1.5 kilometers are within the business area. The road starts at the existing bridge over the railway and is raised up to Gruvberget so that Gruvbergsvägen can pass over the railway and connect to the new road. Before just before that intersection, Gamla Lulevägen connects to the new road in a roundabout. The elevation creates a natural barrier between the residents in the immediate area and the railway. According to the proposal, Norrmyrvägen / Ronningsvägen will have a partly new route and be co-located with the new road under the bridge. The road area enables space for new bus stops.
Illustration of infrastructure corridor from ground level.
Proposal for a railway
The new railway connection extends from the Swedish Transport Administration’s existing track northeast to Boden Industrial Park. The continued stretch to the east passes Gruvberget’s foot, and takes a curve around to then connect to the Swedish Transport Administration’s existing facility north of the Sävastklinten operating site.
– Our goal is to create sustainable transport solutions over time, both for residents and founders in the business area, says Ellinor Isaksson Larsson, coordinator for the sub-project infrastructure above ground in the municipality’s conversion organization.
Illustration of infrastructure corridor from the air.
Transitions for unprotected road users
In order for the public to have access to Gruvberget and its areas for active outdoor life for unprotected road users, a pedestrian and bicycle path is proposed from Södra Svartbyn to Gruvbergsvägen. The idea is that it will go in a tunnel under the road and on to a bridge over the railway and a nature trail to Gruvberget. Another transition is planned as a footbridge over the road and railway, from the area between Läkarvägen and Prostvägen towards Gruvberget. New pedestrian and bicycle paths will also be connected from nearby residential areas.
Outdoor activities and recreation
The planned infrastructure corridor means, among other things, that the terrain track that currently runs behind Läkarvägen in Södra Svartbyn will not remain. Opportunities for outdoor life and recreation are also limited by the roads themselves, on the land where they are drawn. During the planning work, however, it has been important for the municipality of Boden to restrict both the environment and outdoor life as little as possible. In connection with the consultation for this detailed plan, a conservation and development plan for Gruvberget’s outdoor area will also be presented, where the opportunities for recreation will be increased in several ways while preserving important natural values. Here, associations and residents of Bodensare are invited to a dialogue and via a digital map service you can submit suggestions, ideas and views on the continued development. Where a new terrain track that replaces the lost, can be drawn is not yet clear and here the Bodens can be part of and like, among other things.
Read more: This is how Gruvberget will be preserved and developed
View of Gruvberget. Photo: Mats Engfors / Fotographic.
Risk of increased noise
Those who will be most affected by noise from the proposed railway line are those who live on Gideons väg, Halmvägen and Vaktvägen in Södra Svartbyn. In addition, there is also a presumed increased traffic between Boden and Luleå linked to the entire region’s industrial conversion, for example the Hybrid investment in Luleå, which will also mean more transport.
– We really understand that as a local you do not want more noise. If we look, for example, at those who live on Halmvägen today, our noise investigation shows that they are affected by noise. At present, there are no noise reduction measures, therefore the noise investigation is now supplemented with proposals for measures in these areas and our ambition is to even reduce the noise levels so that they are lower than today, says Cecilia Kvibacke, development and planning manager at Boden Industrial Park .
The best option
To answer the question why the infrastructure corridor is proposed to be drawn right here, one can look at what other alternatives there have been.
– Alternative routes would be longer and also more geotechnically challenging, comments Ellinor Isaksson Larsson, coordinator for sub-project infrastructure above ground in Boden municipality’s conversion organization.
Drawing the roads behind Gruvberget, for example from Gamla Sävast, would mean significantly longer road lengths and thus significantly higher costs. Digging a tunnel through Gruvberget would mean that the Swedish Transport Administration would have had to make a new railway plan, which usually takes five to six years, and that time is not in the current schedule. In addition, it would require a great deal of work and costs to build, own and manage a tunnel, with the risks that it entails.
The planning area is located within a designated land reserve for infrastructure in Boden municipality’s general plan 2025, which was adopted in 2017. The plan proposal is consistent with the intentions of the general plan.
The consultation procedure
The planning documents are available for consultation during the period 28 February to 31 March 2022.
The detailed plan is also on display at the following locations:
- City Hall, Physical planning, floor 5, open weekdays 08: 00-12: 00 and 13: 00-17: 00
- Boden Business Park, Teknikvägen 3, Sävast
- The City Library during regular opening hours
The detailed plan is handled with an extended procedure according to PBL (2010: 900). The procedure has been chosen to take into account that the plan proposal may be of significant interest to the public and can be assumed to have a significant environmental impact. An environmental impact statement has been produced and is presented together with the plan proposal.
Consultation meeting for the detailed plan will be held on Thursday, March 24, at 18:30 – 20:00 in Björksalen, Björknäsgymnasiet, Idrottsgatan 4.
We would like to have any comments on the plan proposal in writing, no later than Thursday 31 March 2022 to Bodens kommun, Fysisk planering, 961 86 Boden Email: fysplan@boden.se . Anyone who has not submitted written comments no later than the last day of the review phase may lose the right to later appeal the City Council’s decision to adopt the detailed plan.
Contact:
Cecilia Kvibacke, Development and Planning Manager Boden Industrial Park, tel: 0921-627 06
Lars Andersson, Planning and Development Manager, tel: 0921-621 43
