Strandveitunnelen

Strandveitunnelen is a short road tunnel at Lysaker in Bærum, Norway. The tunnel runs between Strandveien and the road system around Vollsveien and the covered E18 area at Lysaker, close to Lysaker Station and Lysaker Brygge. It opened in 1992 and received its name in 1994. Unlike the long mountain tunnels often associated with Norwegian roads, Strandveitunnelen is an urban tunnel in the Oslo region. Its round tunnel opening and the road layout around the entrance make it recognisable, especially on the side where a metal safety railing follows the road and overhead road signs are placed above the entrance area.

Strandveitunnelen appears in Insomnia (1997). The film is set in Troms in Northern Norway, but the tunnel scene uses a location from the Oslo region instead. The tunnel’s circular entrance and the distinctive metal railing and road signage outside the opening make Strandveitunnelen recognisable despite the film’s northern setting.

In Insomnia (1997), Strandveitunnelen appears near the beginning of the film, around four minutes in. The two police officers have arrived in Troms and are driving towards Tromsø when they enter the tunnel. Although the story is set in Northern Norway, the production uses Strandveitunnelen at Lysaker in Bærum for this shot. The tunnel is filmed from the Lysaker Brygge side, not from the E18 side, which looks quite different. The entrance is identifiable from its round opening, while the metal railing and overhead road signs on one side of the road make the location especially distinctive. The scene is therefore an example of the film using an eastern Norway road location to stand in for a place in the far north.

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