A journey on the deadly Accra-tema motorway
Lives have been lost through accidents on the Tema-Accra stretch of the motorway due to negligence on the part of drivers and the lack of will from authorities responsible to regularly maintain the road.
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Despite road tolls collected by private companies, the Ghana Highway Authority seems to be doing virtually nothing to solve the problem, resulting in major damages and accidents.
The about 20-kilometre Accra- Tema Motoway, which used to be the fastest and most reliable route to Accra and other destinations from Accra, has become a death trap, as a result of many potholes, as big as manholes.
The entire road, which starts from the Community Nine Roundabout and ends at the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout has many deep cracks, making driving very unsafe.
A journey on the road, which normally takes seven to 12 minutes on usual traffic-free days can now take 20 minutes or more due to the bad nature of the road.
The “manholes" are on every side of the road, making it very uncomfortable as drivers have to maneouvre but in the process fall into deeper ones.
This reporter of the Daily Graphic who uses the road regularly spoke to Mr Kingsley Odame, a "trotro" driver who plies Ashaiman to Adenta. He said it had been very difficult for him to come to terms with the continuous neglect of the highway even though tolls were collected and nothing seemed to be done to bring the motorway back to shape.
He said he uses the road five times daily and therefore made a daily contribution of GH¢5.00.
" I wonder whether using the motorway has now become a game of chess or draft because anytime I swerve a "manhole" I fall into another ".
He said he burst a tyre around the Trasacco Valley area on the Tema-Accra Motorway a week ago and nearly killed about 20 passengers after he managed to avoid a pothole but landed in another .
According to him, he changed most of his vehicle parts, including his shock absorbers, tryes and brake pads every month, an activity which affected his sales and income.
Mr Odames lamented that the most disturbing aspect of the whole issue was the extent to which contractors who repaired the road used bitumen instead of concrete to patch the holes.
Mr. Odame’s lamentations probably sum up the feelings of many a driver who knew the motorway of ‘yesteryear’ and the motorway of today.
The Daily Graphic observed that some of the iron rods on a stretch was exposed with the iron rods protruding.
The road markings on the entire stretch of the road have been erased, making visibility at night very difficult since almost all the streets lights have stopped working. Some have been knocked down by vehicles.
Another disturbing observation is that the shoulders of the road have become dumping sites for some residents living along the road. Most road signs on the road have been damaged or removed .
writer’s email:samuelteiadano@yahoo.com