Peter Daniel Hofflund

The Bakkekroen has been a beloved landmark ever since 1934. This picture was taken in 1974, when Smestadkrysset was already heavily trafficked.
Oslo before... 

 Bakkekroen has been Smestad's
"cloud station" and signal building up through the years. Already in 1934, the Smestad junction was included in the general plan for Oslo and became part of the Store Ringvei. In the same year, the Bakkekroen, or "Handelscentralen" as it was first called, was built according to drawings by architect Peter Daniel Hofflund (1867-1967).
There were six shops on the building's first floor. On the second floor
apart from the restaurant, there was also a dentist's office. At that time, Smestad was a small shopping center and traffic hub and residential area with continuous parkland right up to Midtstuen.
The year after the inauguration of "Handelssentralen", the suburban railway was extended from Smestad to Røa.
Over the years, only minor structural changes have been made to the functional pearl which, among other things, houses the Bakkekroen.

Last outpost. The traffic basis has subsequently only risen and risen. The Smestad junction has changed form from being a small local shopping center to a huge traffic light. Ullerchauseen was laid in a "pipe" over two levels under the crossing in 1983. Traffic is still increasing, but the Bakkekroen still marks the last outpost before the services at Frognerseteren or Røa.
This great functional gem is proposed to be regulated for conservation. Only minor structural changes have been made to the exteriors, and most can easily be restored. Sometime in the future, Smestadkrysset will perhaps be resurrected as a village road crossing. The Bakkekroen is worthy of conservation and has high cultural-historical and architectural value. Therefore, any future intersection improvements will have to relate to the building's location.

"Smestad's "cloud station" and signal building up through the years"

Journal

"bakkekroen-bygget"

1915-1950

Photo

1946-1965

 Apart from a straightening at Grimelundshaugen, Store Ringvei largely follows its current route. The local roads connect to Store Ringvei at the following 4 locations: West-facing ramps at Monolittveien and at Holmenveien, east-facing ramps at Dalsveien and at Slemdalsveien. The connection to the submerged Sørkedalsveien is conveyed via a new parallel road south of Store Ringvei between Monolittveien and Dalsveien.
Are we finally approaching a solution for the Smestad junction?
The Building Council will soon decide on one of four alternatives
Since then, the Oslo Byplankontor has submitted the building council to work on solving the problem with the Smestad intersection. In the past year, approx. 40 proposals, and it now seems that the 4 most relevant proposals for solutions have crystallized. These proposals are due at the end of November. There is reason to believe that there is now enough political will for one of the proposals to be adopted. The matter has been so well investigated that it is difficult to imagine that new elements will come in which could throw the current proposals into the dust.
If proposals A or B are adopted, this will be a second-time decision that can go directly to the city council for approval, and then to the Department of Transport for final confirmation. If proposals C or D are adopted by the building council, they must first be announced so that one can obtain any protests and pronouncements.

4 solutions for smestadkrysset 1969

Bakkekroen (handelscentralen) Byggekunst no 9 1935

Article

Byggekunst vol.17 1935

Cultural map of Vestre Aker district drawn by Ole Andreas Krogness in 2017

Drawing

Morgenbladet, lørdag 2. november 1968

Norsk kunstnerleksikon : bildende kunstnere, arkitekter, kunsthåndverkere

Book

Olav Selvaag's proposal for smestad krysset: Ringveien remained at its current street level, while Sørkedalsveien was lowered to the level of the track. Because this road runs parallel to the track, it does not need to be lowered more than approx. 5 meters. It would provide a solution that was just as good in terms of traffic, and construction work that would cost less than a fifth of what is now realized with three years of construction time. Selvaag's plan could have been carried out in a few months, and without the closure of Store Ringvei at Smestadkrysset during the construction period.

Olav Selvaag's plan for smestadkrysset

Olav selvaag's plan for smedstadkrysset

Oslo før og nå 1989

Oslo før og nå 1992

Oslo gårdkalender : Nybygg 1925-1945

The spread of housing, workplaces and services to the outer urban areas has created new travel needs and promoted increased car use, while the central public transport has had its traffic base weakened.

The Smestad crossing was completed in 1983 (top). The stretch which currently has 2 lanes between Lønnhaugen allé and Slemdalsveien is proposed to be expanded to 4 lanes during 1984-86.
The plan (bottom) shows approved regulation for this section.
Photo: Fjellanger Widerøe.

Oslo transport plan 1984 : main report

SAGA Eiendomsmegling opens in Smestadkrysset

VG, fredag 7. februar 1975

ad for new business at smedstadkrysset

aerial view of Sørkedalsveien

Tunnel Gaustad-Nedre Ullern Gård:

The finger is put on the Smestad-crossed tunnel from Gaustad to Nedre Ullern Gård.
The district committee for Smestad/Skøyen is now trusting that the Building Council and, ultimately, the City Council will have the sense to take a serious look at the tunnel alternatives the district has presented for the Ring Road from Gaustad to the Radium Hospital. At a meeting in the district on Thursday evening, statements were adopted demanding that public authorities must set as strict environmental requirements for road construction as they do for industry and other private and public business.
The core of the dispute is the need to improve Ringveien and Smestadkrysset. The City Planning Office and Oslo's road authorities have
launched a proposal, which has already been adopted at the first request.

alternatives instead of tunnel 1975

bakkekroen facade

bakkekroen in advertsiment in the Norsk turist- og reise-håndbok

bakkekroen reopens in 2022

bakkekroen survives

changes to smestadkrysset

construction in smestadkrysset begins 1981

continued disagreement about the Smestadkrysset

demolition of norol-petrolstation

jazz at the bakkekroen

new plan for smestadkrysset 1973

Oslo municipality wants to dig quickly - expensively. It is about Smestadkrysset. Three new proposals have been put forward, all of which are claimed to save the municipality millions.
- We don't have time to wait, the regulatory treatment of the proposals will take five years, says the technical councillor.
- We have a number of other national highway projects underway. A postponement of the work at the Smestad junction will mean that the capital calculated for work here will have to be transferred to these other projects.
We cannot sit on this money. This means that work on the Smestad crossing cannot begin until the end of the 1980s, says the technical council
husband Ulrik Fredrik Beich-
man.
New proposals
The background for the statement is a report from Oslo municipality on the plans for the Greater Ring Road with Smestad Crossing, which has been handed over to the finance committee for assessment.
In the note, the Technical Councilor and the Communications Councilor explain the new proposals for regulation.
They conclude in their report that they cannot give a satisfactory assessment of the new proposals until they have been thoroughly investigated. The investigation will take from two to five years.

The zoning plan adopted by the city council is estimated to cost NOK 148 million. The tunnel that will carry the Store Ringvei under the Smestad junction is estimated to cost NOK 80 million alone.
The tunnel will be 500 meters long, and will be laid so deep that it will also go under the Røabanen. Sørkedalsveien will cross local traffic at a light-regulated intersection where Smestadkrys is located today, but will be expanded to four continuous lanes.

The three new proposals that have come in from Olav Selvaag. Alf Ihlen and Håvard Hogna, are all claimed to be much more affordable. But we don't know anything about this until they have been thoroughly investigated, says Beichmann.
What we do know, however, is that the approved regulatory plan is very environmentally friendly. This solution was chosen mainly based on environmental considerations, and less based on cost considerations.
According to Beichmann, it will be possible to get started with the actual digging of the tunnel as early as 3/4 years from now if the elected authorities did not demand that the new plans be investigated.
Will it take another 10 years before work on the Smestad Crossing gets underway?

new proposals instead of the tunnel denied

More peace of mind for the residents and safer Smestad junction:

Store Ringvei from the top to the bottom of the picture-disappears under the ground as a thoroughfare in the early 1980s. In 1979, Oslo Veivesen expects to start major construction works, which will solve the problems both for residents along this heavily trafficked and narrow main road and for 35,000-40,000 daily road users. two floors underground, both under the current road junction with Sørkedalsveien (from left to right in the picture) and under the tram line that you see runs parallel to Sørkedalsveien. The Smestad crossing (middle of the picture) is today one of Oslo's most difficult, with kilometer-long queues during rush hour. Both through traffic in the direction of Drammen - Hamar (E-6 and E-18) as well as local traffic to and from Oslo centre-Roa- Holmenkollen etc. pass here.


 In the early 1980s, motorists on Store Ringvei in Oslo had to drive in a tunnel under the current Smestad intersection. The work to rebuild the heavily trafficked road junction and 2.4 kilometers of Store Ringvei will start in 1979.
This will be a problematic road system. We have to rebuild Smestadkrysset and Store Ringvei while the traffic is at full capacity. We have no alternative roads on which the large number of vehicles can be diverted, says planning manager Bernhard Sæland in Oslo Veivesen.
But he assures that when the facility is completed in the early 1980s, the result will be beneficial both for residents along the heavily trafficked stretch of road and for road users themselves. Both pedestrians and drivers will travel safer. Traffic will be diverted faster and more effectively, especially during rush hour, where there are currently long queues both on Sørkedalsveien and on Store Ringvei at Smestadkrysset.
More peaceful residents along the 480-metre new tunnel will find it more peaceful, because the traffic is routed underground. But during the construction period, the road authority has to "borrow" a bit from many villa gardens in order to get enough excavated along the tunnel route. In those years, quite a few residents probably had greater disadvantages, more noise and dust than they have today. But when it's all fair-
you, they can enjoy safer and calmer conditions...
Double price
The Smestad junction and the 2.4 kilometer long four-lane Store Ringvei that is being built will cost approx. NOK 170 million, according to preliminary calculations.
It was the tunnel that made it more expensive
A 480-metre-long tunnel will be built to lower the Store Ringvei "two floors" below ground. The tunnel will carry traffic both under the current intersection with Sørkedalsveien and under the tram lines to Østerås and Kolsås. The tram already runs under the current intersection.
this road project to become one of the most expensive in Oslo.
- It is at least twice as expensive to build a tunnel as it is to build a road. In this case, we calculate NOK 55,000 per running meters of road, and NOK 120,000 per meter tunnel, says planning manager Sæland. He says that just retaining walls along parts of the road add up to approx. 12.6 million.
NOK.
There will be several two-level intersections along the new section of the Store Ringvei from Gaustad to the Smestad intersection. Currently, there are four two-level crossings, which will clearly lead to better traffic safety.
Certain roads are closed for exits on the Store Ringvei. Holmenveien, Dalsveien, Jon Smestads vei and Montebelloveien. and the Smestad junction itself is planned as a two-level junction.
In time, it is intended that the entire Store Ringvei will have a two-level intersection, from Manglerud in the east to Vækerøveien in the west, says planning manager Bernhard Sæland - who does not dare to say anything definite about when this can be completed.

Bakkekroen

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