Blog, Bygdsiljum, Skellefteå

It's not that I'm giving up on the safe walking road, it's just that there is too much for me to do and for this to get done, there needs to be a lot more time spent on it, mostly because it isn't really about meeting people anymore.

It's about finding someone at Skellefteå kommun that is willing to put the work in, for Bygdsiljum, or to another extent and this might not be the best way of writing this, but forcing the kommun to stand by how they promote themselves as a community.

That sounds a bit harsh and actually, everyone I've spoken to at the kommun has helped me and pointed me another and usually good direction, it's just that I'm finding that nobody has the time to help or it's not part of their job or more often than not, it's not in their interest.

But before I list the current position, a recap of the idea for those reading for the first time. The road between Bygdsiljum and Burträsk is getting fixed in 2015 at a cost of approximately 80,000,000 kr. Bygdsiljum would like a safe walking road on a 1.5km stretch. Doing it while the work is getting carried out will cost approximately 1,500,000 kr and it's something the village have been asking for, for nearly 20 years. If we do it afterwards and we're going to request this every month from now on, it will cost in the region of 4,500,000 kr - offering a potential saving of 3,000,000 kr. Naturally these figures are not set in stone as there are many variables, but these are numbers given to me by some of the people mentioned below. It's also worth pointing out that all the work to make this happen has to be signed off by the end of this year as Trafikverket wont allow any changes to the plans the year before the work is to start. 

The position is this:

1. Everyone I've spoken to at Skellefteå kommun thinks it a good idea. This includes the likes of Lorents Burman, Harriet Classon, Lars Höjetun and Anders Mellberg. This group includes people directly working with the roads and politicians.

But, there is nobody at Skellefteå kommun that has an interest in working for Bygdsiljum even though Skellefteå class themselves as the kommun that loves ideas and that this idea would save millions of kronor.

2. Region Västerbotten think this a good idea also. After meeting with Anders Mellberg for the second or third time he put me in contact with Mårten Edberg who I've spoken to a couple of times and the process is this; Region Västerbotten basically sign off on whatever Skellefteå kommun put forward as what they'd like to do with regional roads. Naturally again, it isn't that simple and there is a process but Skellefteå kommun have created their list for 2015 and Region Västerbotten have approved it. If they were to re-prioritise their list there is every likelihood it would be approved again but as it's a hypothetical, that can not be confirmed.

3. What about the money? Well, budget for work has been set aside for all the work submitted by Skellefteå kommun and there is no more money out of that budget for any additional work, however there is budget in the pot for 2018 that is for Skellefteå and they could request that this work is undertaken from that budget. And if they were to resubmit the list the likelihood is that it would be approved as long as Trafikverket approved the use of the money from the budget in 2018.

If they approved it, all Skellefteå kommun would have to do is pay that in advance then get it back in 2018. There is a potential issue here as the money paid would be paid back in full, without any interest. And this is another one of those hypothetical areas because nobody has asked if this can happen, but if it were to happen, there is a very strong chance that it would be approved, especially under these circumstances of saving potentially 3,000,000 kr and Bygdsiljum finding out about this road as a bit of a surprise i.e. no consultation so no time for us to submit an application to have this added.

4. It isn't a cycle path. It's a safe walking road and it is desperately needed because of the large amounts of heavy traffic we have in Bygdsiljum. I want to stress this part as we want it for safe walking, not to cycle. I stress this because it reduces the cost and because walking and cycling are seen as two different things.

So that is basically where we find ourselves. Skellefteå is the ideas town, but apparently this idea to save 3,000,000 kr isn't a good enough idea or the idea of having to do the work and cause the disruption only once isn't good enough. More importantly, what other work could be done with the saving of 3,000,000 kr is also not a good enough idea.

But it is a good idea. Everyone thinks it is a good idea but sadly we're just a small village at the start of Skellefteå with not that many votes. If only there was another way ....