Autostrada A1 (Albania)

	Template: Infobox high-ranking street / Maintenance / AL-A
	Autostrada A1 in Albania
	map
	Basic data
Operator:	Autoriteti Rrugor Shqiptar
Start of the street:	Durrës ; ( 41 ° 19 ′ N , 19 ° 28 ′ E )
End of street:	Morina ; ( 42 ° 9 ′ N , 20 ° 33 ′ E )
Overall length:	177 km
Qarqe :	Qark Durrës; Tirana County; Lezha district; Qark Kukës;
Development condition:	2 × 2 lanes + emergency lanes
	At Reps in the Mirdita
	Under construction; In planning;

The Autostrada A1 or Autostradë A1 ( Albanian for "A1"), also known as Durres-Kosovo Highway , Durres-Morina highway or Durres-Kukes highway , a major route connecting the economic centers of Albania Durres and Tirana with the Kosovo .

Officially, it leads from the Adriatic port city of Durrës via Vora and Milot through the northern Albanian mountains to Kukës and on to Morina to the Kosovar border. The route between Vora and Thumana has not yet been developed into a multi-lane, intersection-free motorway.

Since it enables easy exchange between the Albanians on both sides of the border, it is of great importance for the entire Albanian area - the so-called Albanosphere - and is also called Rruga e Kombit (Street of the Nation) . The traffic development of north-east Albania has also been significantly improved by the motorway.

Route

From Durrës, the A1 leads along the SH2 , SH52 and SH1 routes to Milot (59 km). The SH2 also connects the Albanian capital Tirana - also the economic center of the country - with the A1. From Milot it continues in a north-easterly direction to Rrëshen (26 km) on the old route of the Milot – Klos railway line , then through the mountain regions of the Mirdita over the river Drin to Kukës and from there to Morina on the Albanian-Kosovar border.

Construction progress

Non-directionally separated section at Rubik

Construction work on the Rrëshen - Kalimash section began in October 2006 and was completed on May 15, 2010. This section was officially opened and opened to traffic in June 2009 by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his Kosovar counterpart Hashim Thaçi . The Kalimash tunnel , of which only one tube was available, soon had to be closed again temporarily for maintenance and finishing work. The second tube was opened to traffic in October 2010. A Slovenian company built an expressway from Milot to Rrëshen with initially only one lane in each direction.

The section from Kalimash to the Albanian-Kosovar border (approx. 30 kilometers) had long been completed as a four-lane highway, but the large bridges were not completed until the summer of 2019. Until then, these sections were only passable in two lanes. The last gap on this section is the bridge over the Fierza reservoir near Kukës and subsequent stretches of a few 100 meters on both sides that are not directionally separated.

The section of the SH1 from Thumana to Milot was also expanded to a four-lane motorway. Expansion plans for the motorway between Thumana and Kashar were announced in 2018.

Signage

Signs for the A1

Although the A1 officially extends over the SH1 , SH2 and SH52 sections, not all of these sections are completely signposted as A1. Signposting as A1 has so far only been made on the newly built, four-lane route between Rrëshen and Kukës and on the newly developed four-lane section of the SH1 between Thumana and Milot.

It is currently not foreseeable whether the SH2 and SH52 will also be signposted as A1 in the future or whether their names will even be replaced.

construction

Entrance to the Kalimash tunnel before opening (April 2010)

The construction of the A1 through the mountainous northern Albania was a great challenge. The 60.856 kilometer long section Rrëshen - Kalimash , which was built by the US / Turkish joint venture Bechtel & Enka (BEJV), cost over a billion US dollars the most expensive infrastructure project in Albania to date. On this section 27 bridges and viaducts as well as the 5.65 kilometer long Kalimash tunnel were built through the mountainous northern Albania.

On the section between Kukës and the Kosovar border, numerous engineering structures such as larger bridges and deep cuts in the terrain were necessary.

Despite the high costs, the government prioritized this road connection, as opening up the Kosovar sales market and Kosovo's access to the Adriatic ports - especially Shëngjin and Durrës - should have positive effects on the economies of both countries. In addition, the majority of the tourists who visit Albania each year come from Kosovo. This axis would also enable a connection with the Pan-European Transport Corridor X via Pristina and Leskovac in Serbia . Due to the political situation between Kosovo and Serbia, the timely realization of a corresponding connection is rather unrealistic, even if the construction of a corresponding motorway connection has started in Kosovo .

Costs and maintenance

Construction work in 2007 east of Kukës

Overall, the cost of the section between Rrëshen and Kalimash is estimated at 826 million euros , of which around 280 million euros are attributable to the tunnel.

Originally, the entire motorway between Durrës and the Kosovar border was free of charge. In December 2011 the Albanian government wanted to put a project out to tender for the highway between Rrëshen and Kalimash in order to hand over the maintenance work on the highway to a company. The same was planned for January 2012 for the tunnel. A fee of five euros for cars and ten euros for trucks and buses was planned. This toll could generate around 13 million euros annually and theoretically amortize the tunnel in around 21 years .

In June 2011, the Albanian government had to pay the Bechtel & Enka consortium an additional US $ 100 million. The reason she cited was the maintenance work carried out on the Kalimash tunnel .

In January 2013 the Albanian government wanted to decide to which company the motorway would be privatized. Among other things, street maintenance is to be financed. The toll will not be more than five euros. In summer 2016 it was announced that the concession would be awarded to the Turkish company Vendeka . Due to political pressure from Turkey, an Albanian company received the concession. The reason was that the "Turkish company" from the perspective of the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Contacts United States living Fethullah Gulen have. His Hizmet movement was banned in Turkey as the so-called “ FETÖ terror organization”.

Protests against the tunnel toll in 2018

Toll station and access route to the northern tunnel portal

At the end of March 2018, a toll of € 5 for cars and up to € 22 for heavy traffic was started north of the tunnel . Protests by residents from the Kukës region against the new road toll resulted in injuries on the part of the police and demonstrators. Parts of the newly built toll booth were damaged. As a result, the collection of fees was suspended again. Tolls have to be paid again since mid-September; Residents of the region can use the tunnel at a discounted rate of 100 Lek.

literature

Andreas Hemming: The Rruga Kombëtare Durrës-Kukës-Morina - the economic and social effects of major national projects at the local level . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society Number = 2 (Ed.): Albanische Hefte . 2014, ISSN 0930-1437 .
Andreas Hemming: Big plans, broken dreams - the local effects of the new Balkan connection Durrës-Kukës-Prishtina . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society (Hrsg.): Albanische Hefte . 38th year, no. 3 , 2009, ISSN 0930-1437 .

Web links

Commons : Autostradë A1 (Albania) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Information page about the A1 at bechtel.com (English) , last accessed on May 3, 2011
Report on the cost of A1 (Albanian) , Top Channel, last accessed on March 24, 2015
Keystone (May 31, 2009): "First motorway connects Albania and Kosovo"
A1 at "Motorways - Exit Lists"

Individual evidence

↑ Thirra, second tunnel opened ( Memento of 28 October 2010 at the Internet Archive )
↑ Flutura Tota: Kukes-Morina, works start to enlarge the bridges. (No longer available online.) In: Albanian Screen. April 25, 2013, archived from the original on February 7, 2015 ; accessed on February 7, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Përfundon tërësisht Rruga e Kombit. In: TV Klan . September 5, 2019, Retrieved September 6, 2019 (Albanian).
↑ ^a ^b Rrëshen-Kalimash, 5-10 euro kalimi , last accessed on November 20, 2011 (Albanian)
↑ Rruga Rrëshen-Kalimah "ha" edhe 100 mln USD këto muaj. Tema , June 27, 2011, accessed June 28, 2011 (Albanian).
↑ Ard Kola: “Rruga e Kombit”, private 115 km. Shqip , December 1, 2012, accessed December 2, 2012 (Albanian).
↑ Eno Shkëmbi: Një kompani turke merr me koncesion "Rrugën e Kombit". (No longer available online.) In: Shekulli. July 22, 2016, archived from the original on July 24, 2016 ; Retrieved July 24, 2016 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
^ Gulen with the Nation's Road maintenance? Turkey asked Albania to expel company. In: Top Channel . March 30, 2018, accessed March 31, 2018 .
^ Five police officers and 12 protesters injured at the Nation's Road. In: Top Channel. March 31, 2018, accessed March 31, 2018 .
^ "Rruga e Kombit" nis me pagesë, forca policie pranë sporteleve. In: Koha.net. September 17, 2018, accessed October 10, 2018 (Albanian).

[1] Thirra, second tunnel opened ( Memento of 28 October 2010 at the Internet Archive )

[2] Flutura Tota: Kukes-Morina, works start to enlarge the bridges. (No longer available online.) In: Albanian Screen. April 25, 2013, archived from the original on February 7, 2015 ; accessed on February 7, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[3] Përfundon tërësisht Rruga e Kombit. In: TV Klan . September 5, 2019, Retrieved September 6, 2019 (Albanian).

[topch-4] Rrëshen-Kalimash, 5-10 euro kalimi , last accessed on November 20, 2011 (Albanian)

[5] Rruga Rrëshen-Kalimah "ha" edhe 100 mln USD këto muaj. Tema , June 27, 2011, accessed June 28, 2011 (Albanian).

[6] Ard Kola: “Rruga e Kombit”, private 115 km. Shqip , December 1, 2012, accessed December 2, 2012 (Albanian).

[7] Eno Shkëmbi: Një kompani turke merr me koncesion "Rrugën e Kombit". (No longer available online.) In: Shekulli. July 22, 2016, archived from the original on July 24, 2016 ; Retrieved July 24, 2016 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[8] Gulen with the Nation's Road maintenance? Turkey asked Albania to expel company. In: Top Channel . March 30, 2018, accessed March 31, 2018 .

[9] Five police officers and 12 protesters injured at the Nation's Road. In: Top Channel. March 31, 2018, accessed March 31, 2018 .

[10] "Rruga e Kombit" nis me pagesë, forca policie pranë sporteleve. In: Koha.net. September 17, 2018, accessed October 10, 2018 (Albanian).


Highways	A 1 • A 2 • A 3
National roads	SH 1 • SH 2 • SH 3 • SH 4 • SH 5 • SH 6 • SH 7 • SH 8 • SH 9 • SH 24 • SH 27 • SH 32 • SH 41 • SH 52 • SH 56 • SH 60 • SH 64