Users of the Accra-Tema Motorway can now heave a sigh of relief and kiss the endless stay in traffic goodbye, as Phase One of the project completes next month.
The Government of Ghana, through the Ghana Highway Authority gave out the project to CTI Engineering International Limited and Shimizu-Dai Nippon in 2018, considering the serious traffic congestion encountered on it.
The Tema Motorway, the only motorway in Ghana, is a 19-kilometre highway that links Tema to Accra. The highway, which was constructed under the administration of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was opened to traffic in November 1965.
Today, the road not only serves the people of Accra, Tema and the Harbour, but others from Aflao and Akosombo.
On the international scene, traders and individuals from Togo and Benin all make use of the motorway.
However, users of the road were becoming fed up with the meaningless traffic congestion they encountered on the road and said it has gravely affected their productivity.
Therefore, in order to avoid the traffic, many who desired to get to their destinations on time would have to embark on their journey at cock crow, which isn’t a pleasant situation.
In order to alleviate the serious traffic congestion and improve the investment environment, the Ghana government gave out the project to the aforementioned contractors to work on.
Phase One of the project commenced in February 2018 and is expected to end in June 2020.
According to an Engineer on the site, who spoke to The Chronicle, they have been able to beat the deadline. He said some of the roads have already been opened to cars for usage, while some are still undergoing construction.
He said the Tema to Aflao motorway, through the underpass, has been opened and the two lanes from the interchange towards the Harbour have also been opened.
He also observed that those going towards Akosombo from Accra,can now use the two lanes from the Ashaiman roundabout towards the interchange.
He was very optimistic that the project would ease the traffic situation on the road because there has been an improvement, even with the few lanes that have been opened.
He said other lanes would be opened next week to pave way for cars and Motorist adding that most the temporal diversions will be closed.He said some of the lanes haven’t been opened yet because the traffic lights are not ready.
Aside the traffic situation that would be solved, the Engineer indicated that Ghanaian contractors have benefited from the project.
He said the government, through its local content initiative, paved way for more Ghanaians to be employed. He also indicated that most of the materials that were used were purchased from local manufacturers.
The Engineer attributed the fast pace of the project and its quality to the work ethics that exist at the site. He said discipline, punctuality and time consciousness are the main ingredient for their success.
There was massive local content which indicates a lot of Ghanaians have benefited from employment.
Challenges
The Engineer indicated that one of the factors that contributed to the traffic situation was the encroachment of the road by some residents and traders.
He said this situation was solved during the initial stages of the project. Unfortunately, most of them could be seen coming back to the road.
A woman who was captured, has mounted her small umbrella, table and chair by the road side and was selling.
Other challenges that we came across was the dumping of refuse in polythene bags by the road side and in the storm drain.
The engineer, therefore, ceased the opportunity to advise those involved to desist from such acts to make the Motorway achieve the purpose for which it was constructed.
The post Tema interchange phase one opens in June appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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