in 1960, the sale of cars was deregulated, and anyone could purchase a car. at the same time, trondheim started a merger process with the neighbouring municipalities, and plans were made to build large suburbs far from the city centre, that would be depopulated, and connect the suburbs with motorways. a new four-lane highway along byåsenveien was opened in 1966. traffic numbers fell rapidly, and the company needed to replace its aging fleet. traffic patterns were also changing, since lian to a greater extent was becoming a winter rather than summer destination. in 1963, trondheim sporvei rebuilt one of their trams so it could operate from lade directly to lian on holidays. in 1966, graakalbanen was bought by the city, and odd hovdenak became director of both tram operators.