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

The post Traffic Becomes “Torture” on Tirana-Elbasan Road, 3 km Takes 30 Minutes / Gridlock Also Reducing Visitor Numbers in Pogradec appeared first on Albeu.com.

The number of births in the country recorded a slight decline in the first half of 2026, but data by county show that the contraction was concentrated mainly in Tirana and, to a lesser extent, in Durrës, while other outlying counties recorded increases.

Until three years ago, Tirana had a positive birth balance due to its demographic pull, particularly among young people moving there from other counties.

Nationwide, 10,229 births were registered in the first six months of 2026, an annual decline of 1%, or 108 fewer births. In Tirana County alone, births fell by 5.5%, dropping from 5,022 babies in the first six months of 2025 to 4,748 in the first half of 2026, or 274 fewer births—nearly three times the national average.

This was the largest decline, both in absolute numbers and in terms of its impact on the national result.

In fact, excluding Tirana, births in the rest of the country would have increased by 166, or around 3.1%. Tirana’s share of total births fell from 48.6% to 46.4% within a year.

The same trend was observed in Durrës, where births declined by 5% over the same period. Taken together, Tirana and Durrës registered 327 fewer births, while all the other counties combined recorded an increase of 219 births.

The trend in births is an indicator of rising living costs in the largest urban centers. Tirana accounts for the majority of jobs, investment and services, but it has also experienced the sharpest increases in apartment prices, rents and service costs.

For young couples, securing a home, making mortgage or rent payments and covering childcare costs are consuming an ever-growing share of their income.

Young couples find it impossible either to rent or to buy a home. At the beginning of July, the average monthly rent for apartments in the capital, across all types of residential properties, reached 721 euros, according to real estate agencies.

At this rent level, calculated against the average gross monthly salary based on the figure published by INSTAT for the first quarter of 2026, an individual living in the capital would have to spend 77% of their gross monthly income, or 97% of their net income, to cover housing costs.

In Tirana, plans to buy a home are closer to an illusion than a reality for low- and middle-income families. The Albanian capital ranks fourth in Europe for housing unaffordability, according to the price-to-income ratio.

Doris Andoni, now an independent consultant working with international institutions who has had a long career in public administration dealing with housing issues, sees the situation becoming increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families.

“The development of the residential sector is deeply unbalanced, unplanned, concentrated in the city center and within the Second Ring Road, and geared exclusively toward immediate profit. Investments are made spontaneously, without an urban vision, swallowing up green and recreational spaces that are vital to quality of life, while overburdening infrastructure, traffic and every public service. Above all, this is creating a housing system that is completely unaffordable for the poor and the middle class,” she said previously in an interview with Monitor.

“These groups are being driven out of the city, and this is one of the greatest harms being inflicted on urban life, creating a concentration of only one particular category. For now, this may not be visible, but it will become clear when construction is completed and the properties are occupied—or remain unoccupied—because there is a strong possibility that a large proportion will remain unsold or be turned into Airbnbs with a purely seasonal character.”

Tirana Declines, Counties Grow

The decline in births in Tirana shows that the capital’s economic advantages are not translating into more favorable conditions for starting or expanding a family.

Young people are postponing having children, limiting the number of children they have, or moving to areas where housing and living costs are more affordable.

Meanwhile, most counties recorded increases. Fier had the largest numerical increase, with 69 more births, or 9.9%, followed by Berat with 11.1%, Dibër with 9.4% and Kukës with 8.7%.

Increases were also recorded in Elbasan, Lezhë, Shkodër and Vlorë, while Korçë remained unchanged. Apart from Tirana and Durrës, only Gjirokastër recorded a decline, with 19 fewer births. Gjirokastër is a special case because of the extremely aged structure of its population.

The concentration of the decline in Tirana is consistent with the pressure that housing prices and daily expenses are placing on young families./Monitor

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