Traffic Becomes “Torture” on Tirana-Elbasan Road, 3 km Takes 30 Minutes / Gridlock Also Reducing Visitor Numbers in Pogradec

At weekends, it takes around 30 minutes to travel just 3 kilometers on the Tirana-Elbasan highway because of heavy traffic. For several months, the large volume of vehicles traveling toward cities in the southeast of the country has been creating kilometer-long queues along the Tirana-Elbasan road.

Monitor traveled this route on Friday, August 21, and found that the traffic problems begin as early as the village of Shijon, alongside the Elbasan highway.

Specifically, at 4:40 p.m., it took half an hour to travel from the village of Shijon to the Bradashesh roundabout, while the journey continued in heavy traffic along the rest of the road.

Under normal traffic conditions, the 3 kilometers from the Shijon area to the Bradashesh roundabout in Elbasan would take approximately 4–5 minutes by car. Because of the traffic, the journey took around 6–7 times longer than usual.

It also took approximately another 15 minutes to reach the entrance to the city’s ring road, again because of the heavy traffic.

However, the traffic-related stress experienced by travelers from Tirana is leading to a decline in the number of people visiting southeastern cities.

In Pogradec, businesses said demand from foreign visitors for accommodation, restaurants and tourist activities is rising, particularly among tourists from France and the US. However, local businesses are reporting a different trend.

Fewer visitors from Tirana and Elbasan are coming to Pogradec compared with 2–3 years ago, and businesses also attribute this decline to the heavy traffic on the Tirana-Elbasan road.

Representatives of Villa “Bimbli” in Pogradec, whose hotel rooms have primarily been booked by domestic vacationers over the years, said the number of visitors from the capital is falling.

“Vacationers are still coming from Tirana, but their numbers are not the same as in previous years; there has been a decline, particularly during July. The situation has improved during the month, but it is still not like in previous years. One of the reasons may also be the heavy traffic on the Tirana-Elbasan highway,” they said.

The decline in vacationers from Tirana has also been observed by operators of small businesses offering sports activities on the lake.

Gjergji, who owns several boats for rowing on the lake, said the number of vacationers from Tirana and Elbasan visiting Pogradec has now been declining for two years. According to him, the main cause is the heavy traffic on the Elbasan highway.

According to Gjergji, domestic tourist numbers are led by visitors from Maliq, Prrenjas and Korça.

Alternatives for Avoiding Traffic

Heavy traffic and kilometer-long queues on the Tirana-Elbasan highway, particularly at weekends from Friday through Sunday evening, have now been a problem for motorists for months.

The situation is similar during the return journey at the end of the weekend, despite the large number of traffic police officers stationed near the Bradashesh roundabout to normalize the situation. Traffic remains heavy even when traveling at 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. on Sunday evenings.

The problem has become torture for many drivers, including those returning to Tirana from southern coastal cities. To avoid the heavy traffic, they choose to enter the capital via Rrogozhina, only to go from bad to worse, as conditions at the Bradashesh roundabout become indescribable.

Other motorists say they have found an alternative solution by taking the old Qafë Kërrabë road when traffic begins to build up on the highway. However, they do not consider this a particularly suitable option either, because anyone entering the city of Elbasan will once again face traffic until reaching the end of the city’s ring road.

Elbasan Bypass, an Essential Solution

According to experts, the traffic problems on this road—caused not only by the high volume of weekend travelers but also by the disruption generated by construction work on the new Elbasan-Qafë Thanë highway—have created a need for the Elbasan Bypass. Its construction is essential to ease heavy traffic on one of the country’s most important transport corridors./Monitor.al