ow Dubrovnik) was a
Balkan mercantile power and needed access to the interior of the
peninsula. The road followed the Drin River valley. Both the Via Egnatia
and the Via Zenta fell into disuse during the centuries of Ottoman
control, but the basic course of the Roman road is followed by one of
the few major highways that has been constructed in the twentieth
century.

Independent Albania was slow to begin construction of roads that would
better conform to the country's national requirements. During World War
I Austrian forces built some 400 miles of strategic roads while they
occupied the area. The Italians did the same during World War II. In
both cases the objective was to improve communications with external
points. There was no attempt to construct a network that would integrate
the country.

The Hoxha regime has placed more emphasis on internal communications,
and in 1969 it claimed that the principal road network had been expanded
by three times over what it had been in 1938. Perhaps 3,000 miles could
be classed as improved roads. These are considered all-weather roads,
although those in the mountains may be closed by snows. Most of the
surfaces are hardened with compacted stone or gravel, and a few have a
tarry stabilizer. Better roads have asphalt surfaces. Road construction
in almost all parts of the country is difficult, especially in bridge
building, and some roads are construction masterpieces. Once built,
however, routine maintenance has ordinarily not been properly
accomplished, and surfaces have deteriorated.

Railways

The first standard-gauge railroad construction began in 1947. The
Italians had started roadbeds during their World War II occupation but
had abandoned their projects in 1943. By 1970 there were only about 135
miles of completed lines. These included basic lines between Durres and
Tirana and between Durres and Elbasan. There is difficult terrain
between Tirana and Elbasan and, although only about 20 miles apart, they
are connected via Durres only.

The lines from Durres curve northward to Tirana and southward to
approach Elbasan via the Shkumbin valley. A northern offshoot from the
Durres-Tirana line is complete to Lac and will be extended to Shkoder. A
southern offshoot from Rrogozhine on the Durres-Elbasan line is now in
service to Fier and will be extended to Vlore. The combination of these
two routes will constitute a coastal line from Shkoder to Vlore.

Construction was in pr