Any chance of pedestrians using the footbridges under construction on the Adentan -Madina highway from May 1, 2019 look to be quickly diminishing.
Citi FM‘s visit to the worksites on Tuesday confirmed that only three out the six footbridges were close to completion.
Work on the six footbridges on the Adentan-Madina highway was to be completed by April 2019.
The footbridges at the Firestone, Ritz and Madina Zongo junction are undergoing rapid construction, while work has slowed on the Redco Junction, SDA Junction and WASS Junction bridges.
[contextly_sidebar id=”l7TmGrgmfSlOUSY0i11DUStrvxe0RACy”]Fatalities on the Madina and Aburi Highway stretch dominated the news in November last year following a number of accidents which led to several deaths on that stretch.
The deaths were blamed on the non-completion of the footbridges.
Work on the footbridges commenced after residents revolted following the death of a student of the West African Senior High School, WASS, who was crossing the road on her way home.
The safety of pedestrians has since been left in the hands of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD).
Road users living in and around Madina and Adenta have expressed mixed reactions about the pace of work on the footbridges.
Speaking to Citi News, the Madina MTTD Commander, Supt. Paul Wesley Baah said they are doing their best to prevent motor accidents during the construction period.
“Our part as a law enforcement agency is to make sure that the road is clear, make sure drivers don’t park at unauthorized places which could cause congestion and result in motor traffic accidents,” he said.
Over a hundred people are said to have been knocked down on the stretch since 2018 due to the lack of footbridges and faulty traffic lights.
The residents say they live in fear of being knocked down any time on the highway due to the absence of footbridges to ensure safe movement of pedestrians from one side to the other on the road.
On Thursday, November 8, 2018; a taxi cab knocked down a female student of WASS on the Adenta-Madina Highway leading to riots by the residents.
The residents blocked the road and burnt car tyres to prevent the movement of vehicular traffic over the non-availability of footbridges.
On November 9, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Roads and Highways, Transport and Interior issued a statement that work would commence in a week’s time (November 16).
Some residents however on Monday, November 12, 2018, staged a peaceful protest to re-echo the need for footbridges to safeguard lives of pedestrians.
Officials of the Ghana Highway Authority subsequently contracted six contractors to complete the footbridges on the stretch.
The Contractors had earlier assured that the projects will be completed within six months.
“We have done some road markings, we have also done some crash barriers here, we are also doing some civil works at the SDA junction to make sure that the turning is okay. We are also doing pavements on some islands. There is a different contractor for each of the bridges. We hope to finish all these works by April,” officials of one of the construction firms stated earlier.