OSM indicates A1 extending up to the border with Kosovo. With a small gap west of Kukës though. GM also indicates A1 on concurrency with SH5 and E851. I don't know if it is already signed as motorway or not.
OSM has always been bullish on having the A1 - it was like that when I last looked a while back, but I found no evidence that it was actually A1, as well as evidence that it was still SH5. Leaving it as SH5 until evidence to the contrary
I drove the entire "A1" in the last two days.
Long story short: OSM is right. Please extend A1, truncate SH5 and SH6.
Long story:
First, I drove the
Thumane section southbound yesterday. There is a green (there are also blue in ALB) motorway beginning sign at the north end and a motorway end sign at south end just like it should be. However, there are no km posts at all. Every A and SH road I traveled - except of segments within city limits - have km posts indicating the road number.
I drove the same section northbound today. It is also signed as motorway with beginning/end signs where we expect them. No km posts. There are green (as should be, compared to A2/A3) and also blue direction signs along the route. I'd say, fifty-fifty. "A1" is indicated on them but this could also mean "To A1" since that's common practise in Albania. I don't remember how it is southbound...
The road does NOT have motorway standard since there is access to properties along the road etc. Nonetheless, I'd keep it in alba system since it is clearly signed as such at beginning / end. Note: some dual carriageways (SH2 and/or SH4 if memory serves) with similar road standard have blue signs but those are also indicated as "SHxx road" instead.
I turned onto the road to Kosovo at Laç. It is a vanilla 2-laned road with two-way traffic. After one km, there is a km post indicating A1's km1. The whole road features A1 km posts throughout up to the Kosovar border. SH6 nor SH5 are indicated on km posts nor on direction signs (except of turning off of course). The green motorway beginning sign is at km26 where the dual carriageway begins. OSM has the motorway beginning there too.
Our A1 also begins here.
I think that OSM is also right about the motorway end just west of Kukës. I didn't spot the sign since there where two cows on the motorway where the median ends after a turn.... There are still green direction signs over the 2-laned bridge. A large scale construction site is to the right for building a motorway bridge (also visible on
aerials albeit the bridge was much shorter back then when the image was taken). The green motorway beginning sign is at the next interchange, i.e. OSM is a little bit off but still.
Nonetheless, the last motorway gap at Kukës should be closed within the next years.
SH5 is indicated at A1's Kolsh exit where SH5 is interchanging, i.e. "exit here to turn onto SH5". I'm not sure about the next interchange Mamez. I'd say fifty-fifty that it was signed.... It is not indicated in Drinas, not before, not after the bridge. And not at the next interchange with SH31. However, SH5 is indicated at all further exit up to the border. I don't know if the parallel road should be SH5?
We don't make systems based on road standard but based on road numbers. Thus, I'd make everything being A1 from Thumanë to the Kosovar border albeit the A1Thu section is beyond the A1 km0 post and the next 26km are not signed as motorway (but A1 only).
btw, E numbers are not indicated on A1 but... I think there was a sign just south of Laç and another one early on the 2-laned section, maybe the the SH6 junction? In general, I only saw E numbers on A2 and A3, and on the last kms north of A2's north end.
