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The government accepts that the Tirana-Durres highway will be tolled: It will intervene in Tirana-Ndroq-Plepa

Politiko 2024-01-25 08:28:20

The government accepts that the Tirana-Durres highway will be tolled: It will

The Tirana-Durres highway will be tolled. This is not the first time that it is said that this segment will become part of toll roads, but the government has officially accepted this in a document dated December 13, 2023.

Specifically, it is a document of the Albanian Road Authority and related to the project of bridges in the country that is being supported by the World Bank, and in a separate part of this document, a paragraph about the Tirana-Durres highway is also underlined.

In the terms of reference of the design (project) evaluation procedure and the supervision of works for the Beshir Bridge located on the Tirana-Ndroq-Plepa axis, it is underlined that this axis will be improved as an alternative option compared to the toll freeway.

"In terms of geography, the road section Tirana - Ndroq - Plepa is located in the part of the Western Lowlands of Albania, in the district of Tirana and Durrës. Following the developments on the Tirana-Durres expressway, the road is used occasionally when there are jams on the highway or when road users need a panoramic view accompanied by many agrotourism spots along the road.

The Tirana-Durrës highway is the country's main economic corridor that connects the capital with the main port, Durrës, and from north to south. About 40 percent of the country's population lives in this segment. The planned improvement of the current highway between Tirana and Durrës will include a toll system, so an alternative route must be provided. For this purpose, the road that connects the two cities through Ndroqi and Plepa should be widened," says the ARSH document.

The same argues that the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian Corridor includes a new highway from Vora to Ndroq, and will attract significant traffic coming from the North of Albania and from Tirana. In the current situation, these trips must be made through Durrës, but this new highway will have to be completed with an improvement of the Tirana-Ndroq segment due to the Tirana-Rrogozhinë flows that will then use that segment.

"Road SH56, Tirana - Ndroq - Plepa, represents an important road with high traffic load potential. The road connects Tirana with the Adriatic coast and its poor operation reduces the traffic load and causes the SH2 highway to have an increased traffic load. The importance of this road is also related to the fact that it can serve as a backup road in case SH2 suffers any damage. The existing road and the reconstructed one (SH2 and SH56) are located in the area with high risk from natural hazards, especially from floods, with an annual damage estimate of 13 million Euros," the document states.

Thus, referring to the current state of the Tirana-Ndroq-Plepa road, it is said that it has significant damage, both on the road and on the bridges that are part of it, and it needs urgent repairs.

"The rehabilitation of the SH56 road is planned and for the most part, repairs must be made to the existing road sections. However, in some sections significant improvements are needed to the existing alignment along the roadway to meet the designed road standards. On the other hand, this requires intervention in the bridges and culverts along the road segment, such as rehabilitation, improvement or construction of a new bridge in a new location" underlines ARRSH.