The Faroe Islands have an unlikely tourist attraction located deep underneath the Atlantic ocean – the ‘jellyfish’ Eysturoyartunnil tunnel that features the world’s first underwater roundabout
The roundabout has kept with the deep blue sea theme and playfully looks like a jellyfish(Image: INTERNET URL)
Nestled in the Atlantic ocean is the world’s only undersea roundabout – and it’s playfully nicknamed after a jellyfish. The colourful traffic circle is located in a tunnel called Eysturoyartunnil and links two of the largest islands in the Faroe Islands together.
The subsea tunnel is the Faroe Island’s answer to the Eurostar. It’s 6.9 miles long and connects the island of Streymoy to the island of Eysturoy and takes eight minutes to drive through. But at the heart of the tunnel, 72 metres below the surface, is the world’s first underwater roundabout.
With colourful lights, the ‘jellyfish’ style roudabout is gaining a lot of traction online. The tunnel already has an omnious atmosphere according to road users, which is especially heightened when circling the roundabout that features colour-changing shades of blue, red and green, and black silhouettes of faceless figures stand around it.
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In the centre of this roundabout is a giant central illuminated pillar of natural rock, left behind during the blasting constructions of the tunnel. The pillar was decorated by Faroese artist Tróndur Patursson, and around it is an 80-metre steel sculpture that represents figures in full size holding hands around the roundabout.
The figures are all standing inwards towards the pillar. The artist explained: “The figures are walking from darkness into the light, and they symbolise the very Faroese idea that by joining hands and working together we achieve great things,” The Guardian reports.
The subsea tunnel network named Eysturoyartunnil opened on 19 December 2020 after only four years of construction, and was created to help transform the Faroese society, connecting people, regions, and economies in new ways.
Additionally the tunnel helps shortening the driving time between the Faroe Islands’ two largest cities, Tórshavn and Klaksvik, will half from 70 minutes to around 35 minutes. A whopping 189 meters (620 ft) below the waters surface at the lowest point, the tunnel has three tubes which meet at the colourful roundabout.
The tunnel project was constructed by the Faroese company Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar and was the largest single investment ever made in the Faroe Islands, totalling at around €260m (£230m). Drivers who dare to drive through the deep Atlantic tunnel will need to pay the toll fee of 75 Danish krona (£8.60) each way and is billed automatically as a camera scans license plates. The income from this new tunnel is expected to fund the next tunnel projects on the Faroe Islands.
“We hope this new infrastructure will help spread some of the tourism benefits more widely around the north-east of the Faroe Islands,” Visit Faroe Islands director Guðrið Højgaard said, “and perhaps encourage Faroese businesses to cater for visitors more.”
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