Author: Klevis Paloka
As soon as you enter the city of Shkodra, the first element that catches your eye is the massive use of bicycles. Through the vehicular traffic, on every axis, citizens of various ages, women hurrying to work and citizens carrying out the shopping rush to their daily routine by pedaling. Others cycle to the main points of the city. Since 1907 when the honorary consul of Sweden in Shkodër brought a bicycle from abroad, this strange vehicle since this year has become the symbol of the city and the most used vehicle of every season. So much so that it seems that this trend has turned into a local expression "You're not Shkodran if you don't have a bicycle at home", says a Shkodran pedaler with a smile.
Pedalers at risk
But even though every resident of Shkodër has a bicycle, a glance with the naked eye is enough to understand that there are no dedicated bicycle lanes in Shkodër. Despite decades, no one has kept their promise to make the bicycle city safer for users. Despite this situation, nothing has stopped the citizens of Shkodra from continuing to pedal in the city and having this vehicle as their first choice.
Zefi, an 80-year-old man who has been using a bicycle as a means of transportation for 7 decades now that he is retired, emphasizes that he is forced to move on the road of cars.
"We are forced to walk in car lanes, as we have no bike lanes. I know it's wrong, and at my age I also become an obstacle for drivers, who have to wait for me until I pass from one side to the other. We are also forced to walk in the areas designated for pedestrians, but we have to cross somewhere because the bicycle is a sacred thing for us Shkodrans.", the old man emphasizes for "Signalizo".
Unlike the 80-year-old, for Muhameti, the bicycle is the vehicle he uses to go to work, while he adds that none of the mayors, even though they promised to do them, have forgotten them as soon as they came to power.
"For me, the bicycle is a work tool, as I go to work every day. We have been used to the lack of bike lanes since I started pedaling. We know that it is wrong to move on the car road, but we are forced, we have nowhere to go, since we also have to move somewhere, because we cannot move on the sidewalks because of the pedestrians, and we are forced to move on the main road. The municipality has never made a decision, they don't even think about this, even though everyone has promised that we will make bicycle lanes. As soon as they take the chair, they forget that we need them" says the 45-year-old for "Signalizo".
Sakaq Shpresa, a young mother, is one of many citizens who use a bicycle to send their child to kindergarten and school.
"I use the bike to take my toddler to and from kindergarten. Every day is a big risk for me, because in addition to my life, I also risk the life of my child, but we make plans. The biggest fault lies with the local authorities, who should at least install bicycle lanes near kindergartens and schools.", the 29-year-old confesses to "Sinjalizo".
When asked about this issue, Shkodra Municipality states that there are dedicated bicycle lanes in the city of Shkodra. It is also noted that the general local plan foresees bicycle lanes for each main axis.
"The Local General Plan (PPP) envisages bicycle lanes for each main axis. Therefore, for each reconstruction or construction of each axis, the corresponding lane is also built. Also, on the basis of this document, the Traffic and Mobility Study Plan has been prepared, which foresees the management of existing roads, remodeling their use with more spaces for bicycles. However, given that urban mobility is complex and includes the problems of movement by car, in particular the management of parking lots, Shkodër Municipality is drafting the Parking Management Plan.
The center of Shkodra is developed in an area with a radius of 500 meters, while the entire city of Shkodra is developed in a radius of 1.5 km. Based on the calculations made by experts in the field, the walking speed is about 5 km/h and the bicycle speed is 12-15 km/h, the walking time is from 6-18 minutes and the cycling time is from 2,5 -7,5 minutes per case.
Above, we inform you that there are functional routes for bicycles. The existing bicycle lane network is about 23 km. This network consists of the internal and the external network. The internal network consists of the following axes:
- Buna Bridge-Xhabije Square-Zogu i Parë Boulevard
- Mehmet Pashë Old Street
- Daut Borici Street
- Eastern Ring – Western Ring
- Shkodër-Shirokë road
In the last 5 years, bicycle lanes have been added to the axis of the By-Pass along Shkodra Lake in a length of about 5 km for each direction of movement.
Shkodër municipality has not provided direct financing only for bicycle lanes. As part of the maintenance and reconstruction works of the road system, part of their projects has also been the creation of bicycle lanes by opening and marking them with signage. Soon the bike lane will be added along the lake (Shirokë - Zogaj axis), this integrated in the project of the complete reconstruction of the road", it is stated in the official response of Shkodër Municipality.
And precisely in this answer, an important point stands out: "The center of Shkodra is developed in an area with a radius of 500 m", but even though the Municipality of Shkodër emphasizes that it has added lanes, exactly in the center of the city where the main state institutions are located, where the mobility of citizens is greater precisely in this area, the Municipality of Shkodra has not given up on the placement of lanes dedicated bicycles.
But even on some of the roads where these lanes are placed, the monitoring shows that some of them are blocked by cars, who see them as parking spaces.
So the greater flow of pedalers in the city center where there are no dedicated lanes is also emphasized by a sustainable urban movement plan Shkodër Municipality (2017-2025) drawn up by the GO2 Organization.
"Regarding the measurements of the traffic flow and structure in the city of Shkodra, it follows that the number of pedalers is quite large and reaches over 22%. In the less attractive areas, the inclusion of bicycles in the general traffic structure ranges from 14%-20%, while in the city center area it reaches from 25-35%", it is stated in this plan.
This plan also clarifies another point, where it ranks Shkodra in the fifth city in Europe, where before it there are European cities such as: Bolzano, Munster, Copenhagen and Groningen.
"For decades, Shkodra has been known as the city of bicycles. According to the study developed by the Mobalb project, movement by bicycle is 29% of the overall mobility in the city, ranking it alongside several other European cities that have a high percentage of bicycle use for daily needs and qualifying it as the first Champion City of Bicycles in Southeast Europe", is emphasized in this plan.
The leader of the "Eko Mendje" organization, Mirsad Basha, describes the lack of bicycle lanes as a long-standing neglect that has also come as a result of Shkodra citizens not raising their voices.
"There are different policies that usually the Municipality should have created, but in fact it is not that they have been created. They were not created because there has been many years of neglect for this problem, given that Shkodra is the city of bicycles, at the same time there are more than two bicycles in Shkodra houses. So a family can have 3-4 bicycles, then we have the bicycle accessible, we have the bicycle culture and since we have the bicycle culture, we have never had a problem with the mobility of bicycles. So we have the bicycle behind us in our daily life, having one, then the various municipal policies of the local government do not see it as a problem. This is very wrong, having priority on all sides, municipal negligence has been seen not to create bicycle lanes", says Basha for "Sinjalizo".
But Basha shows that as a reason for this there have been accidents, this is also a consequence of the lack of culture by Shkodra pedalers.
"Accidents have increased because the population has increased, as the population increases, normally the cars also increase. Shkodra is a border point, there are four border points which are Hani i Hoti, Muriqani, the part of Vermoshi and Komani and being such a big border point and being a tourist point, mobility in cars is very large. Being so big, the traffic also increases and as a result, there has been an increase in bicycle accidents where there have also been deaths in bicycle accidents that have occurred in the city. I don't want to blame anyone, but these are the consequences of not having dedicated bike lanes. The cyclist in Shkodër has no cycling culture at all and this is a consequence of the fact that there are no bike lanes", says the leader of "Eko Mendje".
But even from the monitoring done on the main streets in the city, we witnessed several dangerous cases created by pedalers by interrupting the road, or entering intersections and roundabouts without looking at all for cars.
Dangerous roads for cyclists
From the statistics of the Shkodra Police, it appears that in the last 5 years, 14 accidents have occurred in the city of Shkodra, with 6 victims and 5 people seriously injured.
"During 5 years there have been 14 accidents involving bicycle drivers. Of these accidents, there are: 6 accidents resulting in death, 5 accidents with serious damage and 3 with minor damage. Of the 14 accidents that occurred in 5 of them, the bicycle drivers were in violation", says the response of the Local Police Directorate of Shkodra.
According to Road Safety experts, dedicated bicycle lanes are a legal obligation.
"The Road Code of Albania, in law 8378, dated 22.07.1998, clearly defines where bicycles must circulate, they must circulate in those places where it is reported and every entity, owner of the road, who owns the road must create bicycle track. So that the pedalers do not circulate on the road of the car, there must be separate tracks for them to move. When there are no bicycle lanes, they must make it possible for them to circulate as close as possible to the right side, for the reason that they are considered as a road vehicle, as a vehicle, that is, as a road vehicle, as a motorcycle, as a bicycle, as a car have the same rules on the road, all rules apply", says expert Fisnik Zicishti.
Experts: lanes are a legal obligation
Although the Road Code clearly states it, for the expert Fatmir Hasho dedicated bicycle lanes for a city like Shkodra are an obligation.
"Dedicated bicycle lanes for a city like Shkodra, which is also known as the city of bicycles, is not only a legal but also a moral obligation, as this city needs these bicycle lanes.", says expert Hasho for "Signalizo".
But the leader of "Eko Mendje" emphasizes that for many years he has been making various protests and advocacy for this problem, but that they have fallen on deaf ears.
"The solution is what we have always been looking for, we have done a lot of advocacy, various protests. We have raised our voice many times so that the bicycle lanes or those bicycle lanes that are around the city are respected and especially blocked by cars that park in the bicycle lanes. It is known that in Shkodër it is not that there is no bicycle lane, it may be a very small lane that does not match the population and mobility in the city. Even the few lanes we have are blocked by car parking. So we have raised our voice for these to be released, but we have also asked the Municipality of Shkodra to add bicycle lanes. In every electoral campaign like those for mayor or for deputy, we have asked both parties to make policies on bike lanes", insists the representative of "Eko Mendje". He adds that if this continues, we risk losing this culture or even being the city of bicycles.
