Tirana-Elbasan highway to fully open to traffic by year-end

TIRANA, June 23 – After the opening of tunnel, the full Tirana-Elbasan highway is expected to open to traffic by the end of the year, the Albanian Road Authority says. Skender Cota, the deputy director of the Road Authority, denies voices that the tunnel inaugurated in the past few days ahead of the June 23 elections will close down in the next few weeks because of having opened on electoral campaign grounds.
Few days ago, the ruling Democratic Party inaugurated the Kerrabe tunnel linking Tirana to Elbasan estimated to have cost USD 101 million at the peak of the electoral campaign for the June 23 general elections. The tunnel is part of the Tirana-Elbasan highway, worth USD 204 million, currently under construction, which is the biggest infrastructural project inaugurated in the second consecutive term of the Democratic Party-led government.
“Currently two of the highway’s four lanes have already finished,” Cota told reporters, adding that the progress of works continues at normal pace.
The double-bore tunnel, part of a highway linking Tirana to the central Albanian city of Elbasan, considerably cuts travel time to Elbasan and southeastern Albania, and is the largest public works project Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s government has implemented during its second consecutive term of office.
The 2.5 km Kerrabe tunnel is part of the Tirane-Elbasan highway, a 27-km four-lane highway, worth USD 204 million, which is still under construction. The Kerrabe tunnel, worth USD 101 million, was completed in a record 13 months, government says in a statement.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, outgoing Prime Minister Sali Berisha described the tunnel as a key segment for the Corridor VIII project with Italy, Macedonia and Bulgaria and a major route cutting distance to southeastern and southern Albania. The road will considerably cut distance between capital Tirana and Elbasan, the third most populated region of Albania, and a hub to the southeastern Albania.
The highway, which is expected to cut the distance to Elbasan from the current 48 kilometres to only 31 kilometres, will have four lanes and two tunnels, 2.3 and 2.1 km long each נsaving passengers to Elbasan 40 minutes in travel time.
The tunnel was completed by Greece’s Aktor under a USD 83 million winning bid.
Kuwait’s Copri Construction and Greece’s Aktor have joined to complete the Tirana-Elbasan highway under a USD 170 mln deal. Overwhelmingly funded by Arab financial institutions such as the Islamic Development Bank, the Saudi Fund for Development, and the OPEC Fund for International Development, the road will considerably cut distance between capital Tirana and Elbasan, the third most populated region of Albania, and a hub to the southeastern Albania.
The highway is considered the biggest infrastructural project of the Democratic Party-led government second consecutive term, after the Durres-Kukes-Morine highway linking Albania to Kosovo, which was fully completed in October 2010. The Finance Ministry said the highway’s cost has dropped from an initial estimated USD 407 mln to USD 290 mln.