Type Government agency Headquarters Oslo, Norway | Industry Road infrastructure Area served Norway | |
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Key people Terje Moe Gustavsen (Road Director) Parent Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications | ||
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Norwegian: Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the state and county public roads in the country. This includes planning, construction and operation of the state and county road networks, driver training and licensing, vehicle inspection and subsidies to car ferries.
The agency is led by the Directorate of Public Roads (Vegdirektoratet) that is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is divided into five regions and thirty districts, which are subordinate to the directorate. The directorate is based in Oslo.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is one of the largest government agencies of Norway in terms of budget. In matters concerning state roads the agency is subordinate to the ministry and in matters concerning county roads subordinate to the county administration.
History
Originally, the Ministry of Justice had the responsibility for public roads. In 1846, Prime Minister Frederik Stang created the position of Roads Assistant in the Ministry of the Interior. The Roads Assistant headed a department for roads engineering. Captain (Engineer) H.K. Finne became the first Roads Assistant. The Directorate of Public Roads was established in 1864, and Chr. W. Berg became the first Director of Public Roads. From 1885 to 1944, the Directorate was subordinate to the Ministry of Labour, and has since been subordinate to the Ministry of Transport.