Potholes, overgrown medians engulf roads - Despite road cc
The newly introduced road repair app faces a stern test as some roads in Accra remain dotted with potholes.
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The problem has exacerbated traffic issues in the city and compounded travelling time over short distances. This came to light when the Daily Graphic toured some areas in Accra over the last few weeks.
Potholes
At the Graphic Road bypass on the STC stretch, pockets of potholes were seen littered in the area when the Daily Graphic team got there.
It was noticed that drivers had to either slow down to go through the potholes or meander their way around them to continue their journey.
Also on the roundabout at the South Industrial area near the Fan Milk plant, the potholes were yet to be fixed, causing traffic on that route, which is a major road that leads out of the enclave to Nkrumah Circle.
The situation of potholes on the Dr Busia Highway was not different. At the outer lane in front of Max TV at Darkuman Junction, part of the asphalt had been washed off at the time of the visit to the area.
The Dansoman Junction at Hansonic and the Atico bus stop on the stretch had also developed gullies. The situation at the Kaneshie First Light was not different as the outer lane towards Mataheko was also in a bad state.
Also, the frontage of Iran Clinic on the Accra New Town Road had developed potholes at the time the Daily Graphic visited. Drivers using the road had to slow down to ply the road to avoid causing damage to their vehicles.
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Road users
A food vendor, Mame Yeboah, on the STC stretch, said because of the bad state of the road, using the stretch at night was difficult, especially for first-time users.
She said sometimes the sound of vehicles bumping into the potholes could be heard as drivers tried to avoid running into vehicles coming from the opposite direction.
“Even during the daytime, sometimes you see two vehicles coming from the opposite direction trying to avoid the potholes. In the process of doing that, they come so close to bumping into each other,” she said.
Musah, a bus driver, called on the authorities to address the problem by first dealing with the defects that caused flooding anytime it rained, a situation that has left the road in such a bad state.
“The main issue is flooding, which has led to potholes being developed on the road. The authorities must work on them,” he said.
Urban roads
When contacted, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Urban Roads, Adwoa Duku, told the Daily Graphic that a contract had been awarded for the patching of potholes on roads within the 26 assemblies in the region.
The contract, she said, was being executed by nine contractors in the region.
“The exercise to patch potholes in Accra is ongoing and we will finish before the scheduled time,” she gave the assurance, urging the general public to be patient.
On the overgrown medians, Ms Duku said work was also underway to clear them and cited the (Giffard) Burma Camp flyover to the Major Mahama Roundabout as one of the places where work was ongoing.