The palm trees alongside the Tirana–Durrës highway, planted in 2014 at the cost €600,000, are currently being removed. The palm trees, most of which have been damaged over the last years, are not part of the highway expansion plan.
The Albanian Road Authority (ARrSh) drafted the plan for the expansion of the highway with three lanes in 2015, only a few months after the palm trees had been planted. The ARrSh explains the removal the decorative trees as follows:
Considering the fact that the future Tirana–Durrës highway will be broadened along its current track and will be adapted according to European standards, it has for safety reasons not been envisioned to have greenery or other decorative objects in the environment of the new highway infrastructure, where the speed limit is 140 km/h.
In 2014, three different institutions dealt with the rehabilitation of the greenery around this highway: the Ministry of Environment, the ARrSh, and the Albanian Development Fund (FShZh). None of these institutions accepts responsibility for the expenditure of €600,000 for the planting of the palm trees, at the same time that the government started the tender for the drafting of the highway expansion project.
