Pedestrian footbridge at Nkrumah Circle demolished to pave way for construction of interchange

Parts of the pedestrian footbridge at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle has been demolished to facilitate the ongoing construction of the three-tier interchange.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic Monday, an official of the construction firm, M/S Queiroz Galvao Constucao, said the demolition of the footbridge began at about 8p.m. on Sunday.

According to him, the position and height of the current footbridge would hinder the construction of the flyover, hence, it had to be totally pulled down.

He said it was not part of the current construction plan to provide another footbridge but since a footbridge was required to help pedestrian movement in the area, there would be the need to provide one in the future.

The footbridge, which had  two walkways, a stair case and a ramp for  disabled persons, was constructed about nine years ago.

Huge vehicular traffic

During a visit to the construction site yesterday, the Daily Graphic observed that pedestrians were finding it difficult to cross from one side of the road to the other because of the absence of the footbridge.

Some parts of the road had been closed to traffic to make way for the ongoing construction works resulting in huge vehicular traffic on that stretch.

Meanwhile, there was heavy police presence on the link roads towards the construction area to ensure free flow of traffic and to maintain law and order. 

Traders unhappy 

Some traders who hawked their wares on the footbridge for several years expressed their dissatisfaction with the demolition of the footbridge.

A few of them who spoke to the Daily Graphic said for more than five years, they had earned their living by selling on the footbridge.

The collapse of the footbridge, they said, was a big blow to them as they were now faced with the task of looking for alternative business sites which would take some time.

One of the traders, Mrs Linda Koney, explained that most of them traded on the footbridge as they could not afford the high cost of obtaining sheds and selling areas at approved markets.

She said a trader should have between GH¢ 2000 and GH¢ 10,000 to be able to own a market stall

Writer’s email doreen.andoh”graphic.com.gh