The Lower Burrel Ring Road, a public investment of around 1.3 million euros, has completely collapsed before it could be put into operation. While the causes of this degradation remain unclear, the Albanian Road Traffic Authority (ARA) has urgently opened a new tender of 1 million euros for repairs.

The views from the Lower Burrel Ring Road give the impression of a structure left behind after some apocalyptic event. In one segment, the asphalt has cracked, revealing layers of gravel and retaining concrete, while on the collapsed section near a manhole, several stones have been placed as signage, to warn anyone who happens to end up there that it is not possible to cross.

A few meters below, the roadbed has completely collapsed; asphalt blocks have separated and fallen down, taking with them the subgrade soil and protective metal barriers.

This is not a post-apocalyptic spectacle, but the appearance of an investment that, according to Prime Minister Edi Rama, was almost completed in October 2025.

The public investment named after the tender "Asphalting system of the roads of the Northern Region Directorate of Shkodra, Burrel Ring Road", contracted by the Albanian Road Authority worth around 1.3 million euros, has deteriorated before it could be put into operation. The reasons for the collapse remain officially unclear, but without closing this issue, the ARRSH has opened a second tender worth around 1 million euros for emergency works in the same segment.

The new intervention has experts and residents of the area suspecting that it is an attempt to cover up the damage caused earlier. According to them, rushing could lead to similar problems and that defects should be looked at in the design.

"The causes of failure in the successful completion of any construction project should first be sought in the project, as it must consider all influencing factors. Construction projects should never begin without relying on a complete study approved by the relevant geological authorities of the site," Prof. Gafurr Muka from the Faculty of Geology and Mining told BIRN.

In one line, opposition MP Denisa Vata said that the new intervention provided no guarantees. “If the initial investment has not proven functional, on what technical and economic analysis is the assessment based that a new intervention will address existing problems?” she said.

Asked by BIRN about the case, neither the ARRSH nor the Municipality of Mati responded by the time this article was published.

Weather or lack of project

The collapse of the new road in Burrel is not an isolated case. Last year alone and at the beginning of this year, a number of road segments in the country, some old and others under construction, suffered collapses or significant damage.

The most serious was the collapse of a section of the road under construction between Librazhd and Pogradec, which blocked the connection between Korça and Tirana for weeks. Also, a controversial and expensive segment connecting Qukësi to Qafë Plloçë collapsed two months after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Rama. The road was inaugurated in September and collapsed in November 2025.

Heavy rainfall was officially blamed for the landslides. However, experts and field experts deny that the problems were simply a result of the bad weather and rains of November 2025, when the collapse occurred.

Nezir Rizvani, former mayor of Mat, told BIRN that the damage is a result of poor and poorly studied design of the area.

"In my opinion, the geological structure of the soil, groundwater, etc., was not studied and taken into account. The history of damage to this road segment due to continuous landslides was also not taken into account," he said.

Rizvani demanded that the municipality take responsibility for the situation, as it was the initiator or proposer of this project.

"In addition, the Municipality, as a rule, had to continuously monitor the works and contest irregularities, which it should notify the ARA," said Rizvani.

Geologist Muka also sees the reasons beyond simple rainfall. "I say with conviction that geology is not to blame. Responsibility must be sought in the project, which either did not consider the geological study or was based on an incomplete study," said Muka.

Nezir Sinani, former director of emergencies at the Mat Municipality for six years, said the area was known for its danger, as the composition of the soil and the city's discharges of white and black water, despite being disciplined, made it unstable. But he too is critical of the project.

"But a good project based on engineering-geological studies can withstand the risk of landslides," he said.

Democratic Party MP Denisa Vata raised doubts about the planning process and pointed out that the costs were being borne by taxpayers, without being held accountable for the failure.

"In this context, several institutional issues remain to be clarified: - how the approval of the project in question was carried out; - what technical verifications were carried out by the ARA before the start of the procurement procedure and on what basis its applicability was certified," she said.

Vata said that even the new intervention did not guarantee that the road would stand. “It is also in the public interest to understand what mechanisms guarantee that this investment will not require further intervention in the future,” Vata concluded.