From the 1970s to 80s, Madina and Adenta were considered ‘villages’ because they were far away from the centre of Accra. In fact, the two towns were considered food baskets for Accra, because of large farmlands available for farming at the time.
But today, the story is not the same, as residential homes have sprung up in all the areas that used to be farmlands. As a result, the sprawling towns are not only part of Accra today, but have actually become suburbs, where most of the affluent in society live. What has even ‘exacerbated’ the situation is the construction of the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to the Aburi road into a dual carriageway.
The express way constructed in the middle of Accra has influenced most people to acquire landed properties in that corridor. The volume of traffic has, therefore, increased beyond what the road experts had anticipated, because of the sheer size of the human population in the area. The Chronicle commends the Department of Urban Roads for having the foresight to construct several link roads to ease traffic on the main Madina-Aburi road.
But despite these measures that have been put in place by Urban Roads, the traffic congestion between the Adenta Barrier and Amrahia, on the Dodowa road, is getting out of control. Day in and day out, commuters complain about the situation on most of our radio stations in Accra, but nothing it seems is being done to ameliorate their plights.
The Chronicle has observed that though the explosion of the population in that part of Accra is a contributory factor, the heavy traffic, especially during the morning and evening rush hours, could be avoided if the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has been proactive instead of being reactive.
Certainly, the editorial team members of The Chronicle are not experts, but we can state without any fear of contradiction that the cause of the heavy traffic we are referencing has something to do with the two speed ramps that have been constructed at Ashiyie and the deterioration of the road around that particular area.
Due to the bad nature of about fifty metres stretch of the road, motorists are forced to slow down at Ashiyie, and this create the long traffic from both directions of the road. The Adenta-Dodowa road clearly falls under the GHA, and its officials cannot convince The Chronicle that they have also not sighted this particular problem that we have seen at Ashiyie, which is affecting productivity.
We are aware that that government has the intention to dualise the Adenta Barrier to Dodowa road. The sector Minister, Mr Amoako-Atta, had already informed Ghanaians that the construction of the road was part of the Syno-hydro project. But as we wait for the official commencement of work on the road, the GHA has the duty to ensure that any portion that is in bad state is repaired.
Every government derives its revenue from taxes, and if this particular road is affecting productivity and resultant taxes the people will pay to the government, then the authorities have the singular duty of ensuring that it is always in good shape.
The Chronicle is, therefore, appealing to the Ministry of Roads and Highways, through the GHA, to level the 50-metre stretch of the road at Ashiyie and put bitumen on it to ensure smooth driving and also put an end to the avoidable traffic pileup on the corridor.
In our opinion, we are unnecessarily punishing users of this particular road because the issue we have raised can easily be dealt with, without resorting to the sourcing of any huge sums of money from our donor partners to fix it.
