The A3 motorway () is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

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 ...

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

and

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

. It consists of two traffic lanes and an emergency lane in each driving direction, except in tunnels where there are emergency bays instead, separated by a

central reservation A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ap ...

. After its completion in the summer of 2019, the motorway connects the country's capital city

with the Pan-European Corridor VIII on the SH7, which connects

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

to Varna on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. As a part of the road network of Albania, the motorway is a part of a major

European route The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central ...

, the E852.

Description

Tirana–Elbasan section

The motorway starts at the TEG Shopping Center interchange connection with Tirana's Outer Ring in Lundër near Sauk south of the Grand Park of Tirana, and follows a route parallel to the National Road 3 (SH3) on the Erzen Valley until the village of

Krrabë Krrabë is a town and a former municipality in the Tirana County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Tirana. The population as of the 2023 census is 2,023. History The village has be ...

. Close to the border between the counties of

and

, the motorway passes along the Krraba tunnel. Passing the tunnel, the highway continues within the Kusha Valley towards

, where it meets the SH3 again at Bradashesh where the motorway ends. According to the former Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Sokol Olldashi, the construction of the Tirana bypass or outer ring began in March 2011. On 29 April 2011, the construction work on the

tunnel started and was finalized in March 2013. The end of construction for the entire route from Tirana to Elbasan was projected for June 2013 (18 months construction time), however a hill collapse near Ibe further delayed completion due to inadequate geological feasibility studies. The highway was only completed in the summer of 2019. The total cost of the motorway amounted to 440 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s. The funding was partially taken over by the Islamic Development Bank. The motorway contains 21

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

s and 2

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s, each with a length of .

Berat–Tepelena section

In the long run, a further expansion of the highway to

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

and

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 ...

is planned. Autostrada_A3_(OSCAL19_trip).jpg, A3 northbound towards Tirana Krraba Tunnel.jpg, Krraba tunnel during construction.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:A3 (Albania) Motorways in Albania Transport in Elbasan County Transport in Tirana County Pan-European Corridor VIII

Description

Tirana–Elbasan section

Berat–Tepelena section

See also

References

External links