After months of nightly work, renovation on the Faroe Islands’ first undersea road tunnels — the Vagar Tunnel (Vágatunnilin) and the Northern Tunnel (Norðoyatunnilin), respectively — was completed last month, with both pieces of infrastructure improved for safety, visibility and comfort. That brings the two older subsea tunnels on par with the new Eysturoy Tunnel (Eysturoyartunnilin) as far as featuring a state-of-the-art lighting system that emulates daylight progressively over a span of distance at both end points of the tunnel. (Ask any commuter about the difference it makes!)
Opened in 2002 as the country’s first subsea road tunnel, linking the island Streymoy hosting the capital Tórshavn with that of the country’s sole airport at Vagar, the Vagar Tunnel has now also caught up with the other two when it comes to boasting a light art installation.
The Northern Tunnel, namely — opened in 2006 to connect Leirvík on the island Eysturoy with Klaksvík on the island Borðoy — was the first subsea tunnel in the Faroe Islands to include a light art installation, created by renowned Kirkjubø artist Tróndur Patursson.
Patursson, notably, also created the light art and sculpture combination for the Eysturoy Tunnel, which opened in December 2020, catapulted into instant world fame over its art-engulfed roundabout.
As for the newly installed light art in the Vagar Tunnel, it was created by Patursson’s son, artist Brandur Patursson.
