06: Demolition of the Laasta Viadukt
Laasta Viadukt (literally translated as Laasta Viaduct) was the last significant fast-road motorway project in Sverland following fierce and ongoing resistance from Godthab residents throughout the 1970s. The elevated six-lane viaduct connected central Godthab with Laasta and completely bypassed Gamla Stan (Old Town), Norrmalm and Kungsholmen. It was one of the most popular roads in Sverland because it provided residents a segregated expressway-standard connection directly to Flygplats Godthab-Laasta (Godthab-Laasta International Airport) and the new international cargo seaport near Laasta. In the 1980s and 1990s, Godthab-Laasta airport was the principal airport in Sverland and significantly busier compared with Godthab-Nyborra airport which was still relatively small at the time.
After Laasta, the Viadukt continued its way to connect Soderleden (Southern Motorway) near the new Port of Godthab where motorists can continue the trip either northwest towards rural Sverland towards the Swedish-Sverlandic border or southeast towards Jonkoping via Bromma.
Laasta Viadukt interchange at Kungsholmen.
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Laasta Viadukt began near Gamla Stan Tunnelbana station and continued for nearly 8 kilometres to Laasta.
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Aerial view of Norrmalm and Gamla Stan with Laasta Viadukt along its river bank.
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The aerial view of Laasta.
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Even though Laasta Viadukt was a popular bypass road in the 1980s, the Sverlands Demokraterna (Democratic Party of Sverland) lost the government election by a landslide margin in 1984 due to a successful anti-motorway resistance from a vast majority of Sverland residents. There has been no new motorway projects at a significant scale in Sverland after the construction of Laasta Viadukt in 1983. Between 1980s and 2010s, there has been a lot of financial commitments and spending towards public transport projects including new Tunnelbana metro system and expanding the existing tram network.
Due to declining numbers of car ownership and rapid increase in public transport patronage in Godthab, the Sverland Government finally decided to propose the demolition of Laasta Viadukt in 2018 aiming for 2020 completion.
The red line represents the route of Laasta Viadukt and will be demolished by 2020.
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In 2020, Laasta Viadukt has been completely demolished.
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Sverland Government now has three options what to do with empty, vacant lands along the riverbanks where Laasta Viadukt used to be. The options are:
- 3 billion Skr (Sverlandic Krona) towards the construction of new Olympic-standard Sports Park with tennis courts, indoor aquatic and sports centre, and possibly a new baseball stadium.
- 1 billion Skr subsidy towards construction of a new Sverlands Universitet and Godthabs Sjukhus (Hospital). The new University & Hospital campus will be designed to rival existing Godthabs Universitet and existing Sverlands Kungligsjukhus (Sverland Royal Hospital).
- 500 million Skr towards the construction of normal public parklands with no sporting facilities.
The decision will be made by both Sverland Government and Godthabs Stad soon.
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