New roads cut travel times to southern Albania

TIRANA, August 1 – Travel times to southern Albania have considerably been cut after the construction of Levan-Vlore highway and the first segment of the Levan-Tepelene. The Levan-Vlore highway has been made fully operational, cutting travel time to the southern coastal city of Vlora. Access to Gjirokastra has also been made easier after the opening of the first 35 kilometers of the Levan-Tepelene highway.
The first 16 kilometres of the southern Levan-Vlore highway opened to traffic in May 2011.
The highway is part of the North-South road corridor of Albania and the Trans European Corridor VIII.
The project involved the construction of a new 24.2 km road with 4-lanes from Levan to Vlore crossing the River Vjosa valley and along the edge of the Narta Lagoon. The new road is expected to improve capacity, traffic safety and travel times on this major north-south road axis. The project is also important for the economic development of the coastal area. The highway whose cost is estimated at 60 million euros is co-funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).