During the campaign for the last parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Edi Rama promised that the National Traffic Monitoring Center would be put into operation by 2025, "for safer and more efficient mobility."
Last May, the Albanian Road Authority (ARRSH) presented the New Traffic Control Center as a structure that would enable 24/7 monitoring of roads and coordination with the Road Police, the National Medical Emergency and Civil Emergencies. In the initial phase, according to the ARRSH, the first 200 kilometers of the road network were connected to cameras.
But a year later, official data shows that the promise of the center's operation has not been fulfilled.
Project progress
The Traffic Monitoring Center was first introduced by the former Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, in September 2023. At that time, the director of the ARA, Evis Berberi, stated that the building would be delivered in January 2024. The deadline was not met.
In September 2024, Balluku returned to the center building and stated that the final steps were being taken for its handover. At the same time, she predicted that monitoring of the first 200 kilometers would begin in early 2025. In April 2025, the start of field testing was announced.
However, last summer, when Faktoje verified the progress of the project, the ARA confirmed that the system was still in the testing and delivery process. Consequently, although the system could identify violations, the procedures for taking administrative measures had not been completed.
The center has not yet been taken over.
Even a year later, the ARA admits that the process is still not complete.
"The monitoring center has not been taken over by the ARRSH," the Albanian Road Authority claims to Faktoje.
The ARA explains that the initial two-year deadline for the first phase was affected by the “complexity and extent of the project on several road axes”. According to the institution, during the implementation it was necessary to coordinate the infrastructural, technical and technological components, as well as interact with various institutions and operators. However, the response does not specify which components caused the delay, how much time each of them added or what is the new completion date for the first phase.
System still in testing
The Road Authority also admits that the system for recording violations is "currently in the process of implementation and testing."
Some of the technological components have been put into operation, but work continues on the integration and verification of other elements. ARRSH adds that the testing and calibration process must be completed before the system can be fully operational.
So, one year after the promise to put the Center into operation in 2025, the system is still not fully functional.
The 214 kilometers of the second stage?
The 4.2 billion lek project is not limited to the 200 kilometers of the first phase.
In August 2024, the ARA tendered the second phase of the project, which envisages monitoring an additional 214 kilometers of roads. The contract was awarded to the same group of operators that had won the first phase and is worth about 1.5 billion lek.
A year later, the ARRSH says that work on the second phase "continues," focusing on infrastructure components and technical and technological elements. But the institution does not provide a concrete percentage of completion of the works and the completion is not accompanied by a specific date.
The ARRSH says that the completion and delivery deadlines will depend on the progress of the works and the fulfillment of relevant procedures. The ultimate objective of the project is to cover the entire national road network of approximately 3,650 kilometers by 2029.
The first phase has exceeded the initial two-year deadline, while the ARA does not provide a specific deadline for completion for the second phase. The other phases of the project, necessary to cover 3,650 kilometers by 2029, also remain to be planned and implemented.
cONcluSiON
The Traffic Monitoring Center has not yet been handed over, while the system is still being implemented and tested. Based on this data, the promise of putting the National Traffic Monitoring Center into operation in 2025 remains unfulfilled, even though part of the system has been put into operation for testing. /Taken from Faktoje.al
