Don’t post bills on road signs - Urban Roads warns political parties, public

The Department of Urban Roads (DUR) has warned the general public, including political parties, to desist from putting posters on road signs as such acts pose danger to road users.

It said people tended to post advertisements on road signs, and that in this election period, it had become common for political actors and their supporters to also paste political posters on road signs.

The Deputy Director of Planning and Development of the DUR, Frank Osei Sekyere, said such practice could prevent drivers and other road users from seeing the important information on the road signs, which could potentially lead to road accidents.

“Usually a lot of adverts are posted on road signs. These road signs are supposed to inform and communicate to drivers and other road users about dangers and other important information. If we cover these road signs with posters, it becomes impossible for drivers to know what is ahead, and as a result accidents could occur,” he said.

Public engagement

Mr Sekyere was addressing a stakeholders engagement programme at Ashaley Botwe in the Adentan Municipality to sensitise drivers and members of the public to the newly reconstructed 5.8 km Ashaley Botwe School Junction to Tema Motorway.

The town hall meeting

The road, which is part of an arterial road that is being constructed in phases to link the Tema Motorway to Pokuase, has features such as a two-lane dual carriage road per direction, two-lane service road per direction, cycle lane per direction, pedestrian walkways and streetlights.

The interactive engagement programme saw engineers from DUR, the contractor of the projects and the police explaining various ways of utilising the new road to reduce road accidents, maintain the quality of the road and also expand its lifespan.

Mr Sekyere said the newly constructed roads had all the features to seamlessly improve the movement of people and goods for economic growth.

He, however, said that due to indiscipline, many accidents were recorded on newly constructed roads, a situation which he described as alarming and troubling

“This stakeholder engagement is to educate people on how to properly utilise this new road project  to improve safety issues on the road,” he added.

He stressed the importance of road users adhering to all road regulations, including speed limits.

Again, he called on the public to help the police arrest people who might attempt to vandalise or steal street light cables  and infrastructure on the road.

“Roads  are constructed with our money for the benefit of all of us. We must, therefore, resist some unscrupulous people who have made it a habit of stealing street light cables and other items on our roads,” he added.

New law

The Director  of Education, Research and Training, Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police, Chief Superintendent Alexander Kweku Obeng, said a new legislative instrument (LI) was currently before Parliament which would dramatically change law enforcement regarding traffic offences.

When it matures into law, he explained that the new LI would allow the police to fine traffic offenders digitally, and that failure to pay those fines could result in offenders losing their driving licence.

Chief Supt. Obeng stated that the police administration was prepared for the new law, with heavy investment in digital equipment and training of officers.

“When a driver flouts a road regulation, the vehicle number will be captured by our cameras and automatically transmit it to our office. Police officers trained on the system will work on it and send electronic tickets to the vehicle owner’s telephone number ,” he added.