Norwegian hospital plans kissing zone

Norwegian hospital plans kissing zone

Kissing is causing traffic jams

Nurses and doctors spend so long kissing loved ones goodbye outside a Norwegian hospital that they are causing traffic jams, officials say.

Problems have become so bad outside St Olav's Hospital in the central city of Trondheim that authorities are building a new lane for couples in cars to canoodle without causing congestion.

"I have to say that I have had some help from some creative ladies in the office to come up with this," Terje Fiksdal, project manager for the new lane, told the Associated Press news agency.

He said people were kissing for "minutes" causing traffic to build up in front of the hospital.

Lukewarm response

The four-lane road next to the building is a major route for traffic in and out of Trondheim.

But staff are unsure whether they will stop in the lane to make their farewells.

"I might use the lane sometimes, but I won't use it for making out," nurse Marit Onstad Roed told the news agency.

Some employees have complained that if they use the lane they will have to walk 400 metres to the hospital entrance, according to The Norway Post.

The lane is scheduled to be built this spring.