New Roads Save Money and Protect Lives in FYR Macedonia

Haris Ibraimi is a lawyer in Mavrovo Municipality, in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

It is a mountainous region – which, like many other parts of the country, witnessed a deterioration of its roads as a result of insufficient maintenance during the years.

“Previously, I was driving on a ruined road, full of holes, and dangerous for traffic and driving. It took a long time to go a short distance,” says 33 year old Haris.

The new road leading in and out of Haris’s village is part of a World Bank supported project to upgrade FYR Macedonia’s regional and local roads.

So far, almost 700 kilometers of the country’s regional and local roads have been renewed through the project, in 73 different municipalities across the small, southeastern European nation.

The country’s road signs and markings have been updated through the project as well, in order to provide road safety features close to European best practices.

This and other works, including guardrails, lane markings and drainage, have greatly improved road safety.

“The road has become safe to drive on thanks to the security rails. Also, it takes less time to drive it. People are happy, and we use it every day,” Ibraimi says.

In the village of Skudrinje, project workers are breaking ground for what will soon be a vital asphalted road linking villagers to a main highway.

The road will replace one presently made of dirt that the mayor and other residents say has for years impeded proper access to vital services in neighboring towns, especially in winter!

“With the new road, access will be facilitated, even in the winter. It is important to get to work, and to fulfill our domestic needs,” says the area’s mayor, Mukrem Mehmedi.

The new road will be faster as well, says Skudrinje resident, Bashkim Emini, who teaches high school in a town nearby.

“Construction of a new road will cut the time it takes me to get to work by 25 minutes,” he says.

That’s more than 15 hours of time he’ll save monthly, says Bashkim, who drives to work five days a week!