By David Gadagoe
For many residents of Tema, Sakumono, Nungua, Spintex, Teshie, and La and their environs, the Accra-Tema Beach Road is a saviour as it provides them with an alternative route from the Tema Accra Motorway.
The Beach Road is thus one of the major roads that ease traffic from the Motorway. Although critical, the road has not seen any major facelift until recently, when the Minister for Roads and Highways cut the sod for work to begin on the stretch.
Work on the stretch includes a two-way, four-lane urban road, traffic signal system and related auxiliary works, as well as a three-tier interchange at the Nungua Barrier.
The 26.6-kilometer road expansion works, which commenced in August 2020, have resulted in heavy vehicular congestion on the already busy road as a result of the reconstruction of the road from Tema harbour terminal 3 to La. This has made its use unattractive to some road users who are unhappy about the approach being employed by contractors, which they say has contributed to the huge vehicular traffic.
“I stay in Accra and work in Tema. Because of the construction, I always get to work late and vice-versa.”
Some motorists who use the stretch are equally frustrated about the situation.
“At this first junction, between 6am to about 8:30 or 9am, there is huge vehicular congestion because of the construction. The dust is also very unbearable”.
“The pavement here is bigger and the road itself is narrow. We don’t even know if they will give that place to the traders to sell or not. They are just wasting the land, added another driver.
If you had ever used the road it will be noted that buying and selling is brisk on the stretch. What has been the impact of traffic congestion on business. A trader had this to say:
“Sales have reduced drastically as a result of the road construction and the style adopted by the contractors. Passengers now patronize the use of taxis which has affected business negatively.”
A major concern of road users engaged was the approach adopted for the construction. Two engineers on the project were consequently contacted to ascertain whether such concerns were founded. First is Bright Laweh who said, “As part of our strategy to complete this project on time we decided to divide ourselves into groups. As one group is working from Teshie the other group will be at Nungua. We also have adequate machines”.
Another Engineer Enoch appeals to motorists to remain calm as they are doing everything possible to complete the project on time.
“Drivers do not bear with us because we have closed some parts of the road, yet they will prefer to use where we have closed. Some of them are men at the back end working on bridges. We are doing everything possible to ensure the construction is fast. Why don’t we want to finish one side and continue to the side because it causes traffic”.
Contribution of the Accra Beach road to easing traffic congestion in and around the Tema metropolis is immense. Its reconstruction is today a source of people’s income, who intentionally block part to prevent motorists from plying it unless they are incentivised. For most of these inconveniences and more the clarion call is for the work to be spearheaded to complete this all important national project on time.
