Motorway lights substandard — GSA

The newly installed street lights on the 19-kilometre Accra-Tema Motorway do not conform to the country’s standard for street lighting, the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has said.

The Director General of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, explained that Ghana’s standard for street lighting (GS 1199-1:2018) lay down the fundamental principles that governed the lighting of public thoroughfares, including motorways, arterial routes, residential roads, town and city centres and pedestrian-orientated areas.

He said although the method of providing adequate public lighting was diverse, and new developments and techniques were continually being introduced, the Ghana standard had been limited to methods that gave good results within acceptable economic limits.

“The purpose of providing street lighting is to create a lighted environment, which will contribute to the safe and comfortable movement of vehicles and pedestrians during the hours of darkness. If these requirements are met, road accidents and criminal activities in the streets can be substantially reduced.

“The lights on the motorway are dim and that means they don’t conform to the country’s standard, and that is unacceptable,” he said.

Prof. Dodoo was reacting to the story: “The lights go dim”, which was carried in yesterday’s edition of  the Daily Graphic to shine light on the visibility situation on the motorway.

Read also: The lights go dim; Accra-Tema Motorway in focus

Standards matter

Prof. Doddo said for street lighting to meet the required standard acceptable in the country, details of the course of the road ahead must be clearly visible to users of the road.

Director General of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo

“This means that the presence and position of kerbs, intersections, bends, vehicle access points, pedestrian crossings, road markings, traffic signs and general street furniture must be revealed.

“Other road users must be visible. These include other vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians and stray animals. The lighting must clearly show their actual positions relative to the observer, their direction and speed of movement,” he said.

He said imperfections in the road surface and the presence of obstacles in the path of a vehicle must also be clearly visible.

Prof. Dodoo noted that all the above must be clearly visible to a vehicle driver from a distance that was good enough, according to the speed of the driver, to enable him or her to avoid action or stop the vehicle, as required.

Read also: Indiscipline unabated: Accra-Tema motorway without rules

Enforcement

Asked how the GSA allowed substandard lighting on the motorway, he said the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), which was mandated to examine the contract details to ensure value for money, failed in its responsibility.

“We need to know how the tender process was done and how the tender certificate was obtained because the GSA was not called to check the standard of the lights, and that is the essence of standardisation,” he said.

Moving forward, the GSA boss noted that the way to avoid such a situation was to appreciate that standards provided guidance and must be employed at all times.

“If standards are voluntary, people are likely not to conform, and that is why we have been advocating in Parliament for more powers to be able to enforce some of these standards,” he said. 

He emphasised that the GSA had created a standard on almost everything, including outdoor advertising, making of nose masks and even the preparation of gari and kenkey, that needed to be enforced by the various regulatory agencies.

“We want to put on record that we have spent money and human resource to develop standards on everything, but we cannot enforce standards in all sectors and so the regulators must help enforce them,” Prof. Dodoo said.

Read also: Final blockade of Motorway illegal U-turns begins

Situation

Darkness had engulfed the motorway for years as a result of malfunctioning street lights, despite continued complaints by motorists and other road users for the responsible agencies to fix them.

The absence of the lights made driving in the night uncomfortable for motorists, resulting in collisions and many casualties.

Due to the long absence of the lights, users of the highway heaved a sigh of relief when installation of the new street lights began earlier this year.

As of last Sunday, the solar-powered street lights had been installed entirely on one end, from the entrance of the motorway near the Accra Mall to the end in Tema, but had failed to provide the expected visibility.

Some motorists who said they plied the highway on a daily basis complained that the light-emitting diodes (LED) were dim and could not provide enough visibility during the night.

They also noted that the light did not shine on the outer lanes of the highway, reducing visibility to only the inner lanes.