From Boldnews.al
The secondary axis of the Tirana-Durres highway, which runs from Hygeia Hospital to “Megatek”, has long been in need of asphalt intervention. Its condition deteriorated even further, as it had to cope with an increased flow, which was imposed by the works on the road axis connecting the capital with its coastal neighbor.
Various parts of the approximately 7-kilometer-long road have lost their asphalt, while the side walls need rehabilitation interventions. However, in general, the road axis does not need substantial improvements. Its width is optimal for the movement of vehicles in both directions. The axis passes through a field road, mostly straight and with only one bend that does not pose a problem for in-depth interventions.
So, with a little goodwill and at a not very high cost, this secondary road can be brought to optimal parameters, by carrying out a surface intervention only on the asphalt layers.
This is what the Municipality of Tirana, led by the commander Anuela Ristani, who is performing her duties after the arrest of the acting mayor, Erion Veliaj, has recently thought about.
After many years, it has been thought that the asphalt will be repaired and a new layer will be made. This seems to be a good solution. But, such projects, where public authorities combine the citizens’ desire for the road system with the need for inflated tenders, are not a new thing in our country.
It seems that the local administration of Tirana has acted in precisely this spirit.
Golden asphalt
A few days ago, the Municipality of Tirana announced the tender for the “Reconstruction of the Tirana-Durrës Secondary Road (Hygea-Megatek)”. The limit fund for this tender is 595 million new lek, or a little more than 6 million euros.
The tender documents state that the length of the road to be paved is about 6.8 kilometers. By simple calculation, the cost of paving one kilometer of this secondary road is about 900 thousand euros, a seemingly inflated value for a road system that has almost no difficulties.
This is also stated by Tirana Municipality officials themselves, in the tender documents.
” The road generally maintains a uniformity in terms of its width. In the existing situation, the measured width varies from 6.5-7.2m. The width of the road dictates the separation of lanes at 3.25 meters each, which is a sufficient width for the passage of vehicles with a permitted speed of 40km/h .”
This explanation clearly shows that the road axis does not need in-depth interventions, nor expansion or other actions in its entirety.
Further, in the tender documents, it is stated: “ On the other hand, the sidewalks are wide enough for the free passage of the residents of the area .” So, clearly, the road axis does not need the construction of sidewalks, which could increase the costs of the intervention, but only needs some peripheral asphalt interventions on them.
So, everything that is read in the 6 million euro tender documents is simply and solely related to the asphalting of the carriageway of this secondary road axis of less than 7 kilometers.