The A2 motorway () is a motorway in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

spanning across the

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Fier and

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

. As it connects Fier, the sixth largest city, to maritime

, the third largest city in the country and largest city in southern Albania, the motorway represents a major north–south transportation corridor and a significant part of the Adriatic–Ionian motorway. The A2 is also the starting point of the Pan-European Corridor VIII. The motorway consists of two traffic lanes and an emergency lane in each driving direction separated by a central reservation. National significance of the motorway is reflected through its positive economic impact on the cities and towns it connects as well as its importance to

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

in Albania. The A2 motorway has dramatically alleviated congestion on the adjacent National Road 8 (SH8) in the summer season by allowing faster travel time to Adriatic seaside resorts along the Vlora seaside, and further south to the Albanian Riviera. At Levan near Fier the motorway links with the newly built SH4 single carriageway to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

through

Tepelenë Tepelenë ( sq-definite, Tepelena) is a city and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in the south of Albania. The town is on the left bank of the Vjosa River, about three kilometres downstream from its union with the Drino. Until the abolition ...

and

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

. The total construction cost for the motorway amounted to 60 million euros as the project underwent changes to accommodate for the rising levels of Vjosa River.

Overview

The preceding National Road 4 (SH4) at the northern edge stretching between Durrës, Kavajë, Lushnjë, and Fier has undergone widening to dual carriageway standards, and will be linked with A2 through the ''Fier Bypass''. On 3 February 2015, the Government of Albania received funding for the ''Vlorë Bypass'' linking A2 with coastal National Road 8 (SH8) along the Albanian Riviera. It was expected to start around 2015 and be completed in 2016 or early 2017, stretching from the southern end of A2 to Orikum. However, the winning firm Serenissima declared bankruptcy and the Albanian government was obliged to scrap the contract and reopen the bid for both the Fier and Vlora Bypasses. Construction work on the Fier Bypass is set to resume in the fall of 2018. The Fier Bypass was opened on 15 June 2020, and Vlore Bypass on 16 July 2021.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:A02 (Albania) Motorways in Albania Transport in Fier County Transport in Vlorë County Pan-European Corridor VIII

Overview

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