Author: Denis Tahiri
During the months of July and August, in the editorial office of "Sinjalizo", there were not a few cases of complaints about parking payments in Saranda in the amount of 1000 Lek or 1500 Lek, where the tax coupon did not exist as a concept.
Andi, a 33-year-old who spent a week of vacation on the banks of the Ionian Sea, was one of the thousands of tourists, local and foreign, who visited Saranda this summer.
"I chose it because I had not come to the south of the country for many years, I was told that it has developed a lot and it is worth spending a few days of vacation, plus the access you have both to the beaches of the riviera and to Ksamil. But at the same time you also have the comforts of a city", he says.
But for the 33-year-old, Saranda, it did not turn out as he expected. Kilometers of traffic in the city and the lack of parking were the main reasons for leaving the holidays in half.
"The first night I arrived, I spent 2 hours in traffic to find a parking spot. I didn't find it! I was forced to put the car in a car wash, which during the afternoon turned into a parking lot. For the whole night, I paid 1000 lek", he said, adding that because of the high price, he also asked for the tax coupon, but the answer was as arrogant as it was surprising:We don't have a brother, if you want permission, if you want to move".
The same situation was repeated on the second day, but this time, the parking was closer to the hotel and the payment was 1500 ALL.
"It is inconceivable, because only for the air they didn't ask me a lek, the hotel 8000 lek and no parking, meanwhile with less than 1000 lek you can't park, the beach won't let you lay down, here tourism is backwards, only lek, but service 0".
And while officially the tourist season in Saranda has been a great success, municipal officials, "off the record", admit a number of problems, starting from the road axes that cannot cope with the influx, the lack of public transport in the city, but also congestion especially on the Saranda-Ksamil line! The lack of parking in the city, since many vacationers choose to stay in a hotel in Saranda and enjoy the beaches outside the city, has become one of the city's biggest problems.
Parking, Saranda Municipality:It is very problematic"
The municipality of Saranda, in an information request, says that: The parking situation in the city of Saranda is very problematic, especially during the tourist season". But when asked what is the total number of parking spaces in the city, this institution, which has the duty to have it as information, says that for the year 2024 the inventory of the total number has not yet been made as they are in the process. "But for the year 2023, there were 90 places reserved with payment". says the municipality, when as the total number of parking spaces it could have set the data it had for the year 2023, just as it did with paid parking spaces.
And while admitting that during the tourist season, there are not enough parking spaces in the city, the municipality, "There are plans for the creation of public parking in the city, not in the center, but we are in the co-financing discussion phase with the government".
Although it has been asked what these plans are, to see if it is something concrete, this institution does not give an answer to this question.
On the other hand, the municipality says that one of the most problematic challenges faced by local government structures in relation to parking is the occupation of places by unauthorized persons.
Parking is not a new problem for Saranda, especially during the summer season. Asked what has been done in the last 15 years by the Municipality to address this problem, this institution says that: Road infrastructure works are being carried out in the city and a terminal for public transport lines is also being built to avoid the passage of heavy vehicles (buses).
Experts: There is a solution, it's a matter of costs
Urbanist Ardian Muka, in an interview for Sinjalizo, says that there are solutions, but it's all a matter of costs.
"The problem is that when the elections are held in a normal way, they are resolved at the lowest cost, when they go to an emergency, the costs are greater," he says. he adding that one of the solutions that can mitigate the "parking lot crisis" in Saranda is to plan as many parking lots as apartments for the construction permits that are granted.
"If Saranda has an acute problem, it will not be the number of apartments, but this number plus 20%, which the municipality can administer or the part of the owners can administer, for non-resident residents. he says.
For Mr. Muka, the part of the squares should be seen urgently as public parking, as an investment by the municipality, which is also a profitable business at today's prices.
"The municipality can take x area under administration where it can administer or grant it with a concession, then it remains to be seen". he says, saying that the main streets of the city should be converted into paid public parking, as in this way neither tourists nor residents will leave their cars parked all day and this will make the traffic in the city more flexible.
Another solution for urban planner Muka could be roads with a unique direction of movement, a solution that Saranda has to some extent, as well as the construction of ring segments. "It could also be the solution of public parking, mainly for buses that bring a large flow of people, so that they don't enter the city at all, but to do this you need to have a very good public transport system", he says, adding that it is very important that the decision-makers, starting from the Municipal Council, when they make these decisions, should listen to the specialists so that we don't have these problems.
"Saranda is not only not designed for tourism, but also not designed for cars, like any other city in socialism. The roads were designed for as few cars as the leading elite of the country had, and the rest were work vehicles. says Gentjan Kaprata, urban planner.
But in the last 33 years, a lot could change for the better, but not always these changes have been positive.
"The new buildings are not developed according to a general regulatory plan after the 90s and these constructions were made according to this plan. Now we have a further densification. All three of these aspects make it theoretically impossible to solve the problem of parking, rest and circulation". says Mr. Kaprata, who adds that it is unrealistic to think that there will ever be good traffic in Saranda.
But there are solutions to alleviate the problem. One of which is to remove the car from the city and create large public parking lots by empowering public transport.
Saranda is currently one of the most important cities for the coastal tourism map in Albania, but it is a small municipality, which has limited capacities to cope with the flow of hundreds of thousands of tourists and the need to address the challenges of the road infrastructure and of parking, turns into something even more urgent than it was, when the goal is to return tourism to the main economic pillar of the country.
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