Albanian Government Council of Ministers

Vlora Bypass, a 29-km road network bypassing the southern coastal city of Vlora that will significantly improve the road traffic flow along the southern coast of Albania during summer tourist season in particular, has been finally opened to traffic after the construction work completed on Thursday. Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, and the head of the Albanian Road Authority (ARA) Evis Berberi, inspected firsthand this key road to the area’s coastal tourism.

“Today is July 7 and construction of the whole road stretch has been completed. We are inspecting the so-called “the Bridge 2” and “the Bridge 3”, which were partially and temporarily opened last year to allow traffic to the Kanina area and which have been fully completed now. A satisfactory technical solution has been provided and approved by the technical committee because of the area’s difficult geological composition  and the difficulties we have encountered during implementation of this project. The road has been completed now and it will open to traffic starting now. This is a road meeting all the standards regarding the allowed speed limit,  whilst speed detection devices and systems have been installed along the road as part of the measures to enhance road safety standards,” Balluku said.

The new road links Levan-Vlora highway with the existing national coastal road between Vlora and Saranda, Vlora’s southern part. The 29-km road starts from the roundabout of Levan-Vlora highway and ends right where the national road between Orikum and Dukat begins. The road provides local farmers quick access to the local markets and will have an impact on the development of agriculture and agritourism in the area. The 100.5 meter wide road will open fully to traffic. The solution provided to construction of the bridge No.2 is the best technical solution for the time being given the short time we have been working to deliver on this project. This was the most effective solution to make the road available to traffic,” the ARA Director Berberi said.

Whole road stretch has already been paved with asphalt and traffic will move freely and smoothly with the best road safety standards now in place, unlike the limited traffic after the road’s partial opening last year. “Our American friends drove along this road today morning and they couldn’t believe this was a road built in Albania. I assured them that this part belongs to Albania too and not only that low area there. They couldn’t imagine that in addition to the engineering complexity, this road project also had to go through a series of horrible stories about supposed properties and pseudo-property owners,” PM Rama said while travelling along the newly-built road.

Construction works on this road will continue to complete some small remaining details that won’t affect the traffic flow. 

The new road is expected to have a significant impact on development of tourism and it will help to significantly improve the road traffic flow in the coastal city of Vlora and along the southern coast of Albania.

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