Whereas some residents of Ritz junction on the Adenta-Madina highway are elated over the completion of a footbridge for them, others have criticised the projects.
“We thank God that it has been completed, now we can cross the road with ease and without fear,” a pedestrian said.
“Government has done a very good job, this will help reduce the numerous accident that we face on this road,” another pedestrian said.
This stretch of the highway recorded lots of fatalities in pedestrian knock-down accidents which triggered a civil revolt when a student of the West Africa Senior High School was killed as she was crossing the road.
However, some residents are still crossing the road endangering their lives despite the completion of the footbridge.
For some pedestrian, the nature of the footbridge deters them from using it, with the reason being that the footbridge is too long.
“In my opinion, it is too long, I think this is the first footbridge I have ever seen to be this long. They could have made it shorter,” a pedestrian said.
“Those who are scared of height might find it difficult using the footbridge, but since it has already been finished, pedestrians should just be cautious in using the footbridge,” he said.
Ritz Footbridge on the Adenta-Madina highway is the first of the six footbridges to be completed on that stretch.
It was open for use on 30th April 2019.
With the remaining five; Firestone, Madina Zongo junction, Redco Junction, SDA Junction and WASS Junction bridges still undergoing construction.
The contractors had earlier assured that the projects would be completed within six months, with the government promising the completion of six footbridges on the Adentan-Madina highway by April 2019.
“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.
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.
When a taxicab on Thursday, November 8, 2018; knocked down a female student of WASS on the Adenta-Madina Highway 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.
