Highway Authority installs solar streets lights along 10 trunk roads
Over one hundred solar lights have been installed along 10 trunk roads in seven regions to enhance security and visibility at night, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has said.
Advertisement
The regions are the Greater Accra, Volta, Central, Eastern, Ashanti, Western and Brong Ahafo.
The 10 roads are: Madina-Pantang, Fiesta Royale-GIMPA Junction, Tema-Sogakope, Sogakope-Ho, Kasoa-Winneba, Winneba-Cape-Coast, Cape-Coast-Takoradi, Accra-Kumasi, Kumasi-Techiman and Kumasi-Sunyani.
According to the Director of Road Safety of the GHA, Mr Victor Owusu, the project was executed with a €7.66million loan secured by the government for road projects.
This is to improve night-time visibility in hazardous road sections, enhance socio-economic activities at night in the communities and increase night-time security.
Briefing the media after a tour of some selected areas in Accra and Tema last Thursday, Mr Owusu said apart from enhancing visibility and security, the solar street lights would promote economic activities in communities or areas where the lights had been installed.
Background
The mortality rates in vehicular accidents on Ghana’s trunk roads are very disconcerting.
On the average, about 1,800 people are killed annually in road accidents in Ghana. Forty per cent of the accidents, according to the GHA, occur during the night.
Other Trending Stories
It is estimated that 80 per cent of those who die in road accidents during the night are killed on the road sections that do not have street lights.
It is against this background that the government, through the Ministry of Roads and Highways and GHA, initiated a solar-based street lighting project to improve visibility at night.
More to benefit
Mr Owusu said the GHA was in the process of securing additional funds to embark on the installation of about 2,000 street lights in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions.
According to Mr Owusu, the first phase of the project covered 10 road sections totalling 510.km, adding, “After the second phase is completed, the road network in the country will experience a transformation.”
He said the street light components consisted of poles, metal parts, photo- voltaic modules, control system, cables and LED lamps.
Residents excited
Some residents along the roads, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, expressed joy over the installation of street lights and commended the government for the initiative.
According to Mr Luke Manu, a resident of Kasoa, prior to the installation of the solar street lights, there were chaotic incidents on the Kasoa-Winneba road in the Central Region at night.