for new bicycle lanes. The increasing traffic following WWII continued to strain the capacity of Västerbron. Much of the north-southern traffic flow through the old city centre remained confined to the bridge until the inauguration in 1966 of Essingeleden, the motorway running parallel to Västerbron about 1.5 km to the west. Today, Västerbron is occasionally still acting as a reserve when Essingeleden is being closed off for repair and other reasons. From its opening Västerbron was an important passageway of Stockholm’s tram network until the last four lines of the network, one of them line 4 crossed over Västerbron, was closed in September 1967 simultaneously with the switch to right-hand side traffic. In August 1993 a JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft crashed on Långholmen only a few meters from the bridge after a low altitude, low speed manoeuvre during an air show. The pilot ejected safely and only one person on the ground was injured, despite tens of thousands of people standing by watching. Today a small, sculpture on the site of the crash, a paper plane with its nose drilled into the soil, is commemorating the event. As a result of the accident, today air shows are forbidden over Riddarfjärden and no aircraft are allowed to pass under the bridge. As of 2006 a dozen workers have been working for several years to treat the bridge against corrosive attacks. Västerbron in Swedish culture Published simultaneously to the inauguration, the novel Människor kring en bro ("People round a bridge") by the proletarian author Josef Kjellgren (1907–1948) gave a detailed account of the life of the workers who took part in the construction of the bridge. The singer and actress Monica Zetterlund (1937–2005) mentions the bridge in one of her major hits Sakta vi gå genom stan (Swedish cover of Walking My Baby Back Home) in the now famous lyrics written by Beppe Wolgers: På Västerbron, i den himmelska ron, en spårvagn går ensam och tom. ("On Västerbron, in the heavenly peace, a tram passes lonely and vacant."). Johan Dufour composed the piano piece Västerbron in 1989 while living at Kungsholmen. Stockholm-based indie-band Laakso lament a lost love on the bridge in their 2007 song bearing its name. During the annual Stockholm Marathon, the passage over Västerbron is known as one of the most exciting during the two laps around Stockholm. It is also the place where many choose to encourage