Portions of Tema Motorway roundabout to be closed on August 26

Portion of the Tema Motorway roundabout will be closed to the motoring public on Sunday, August 26, 2018, to pave the way for work to continue on the interchange expansion project currently underway.

Areas to be affected by the closure include the Tema-Aflao stretch and Tema Port stretch to the former Ouando Filling Station that connects to the Ashaiman Timber market roundabout.

As an alternative, motorists will be required to use detour roads close to the roundabout as temporary access routes out of the roundabout.

The Chief Engineer with the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Mr Joseph Yeboah, disclosed this to the media during a tour of the project site in Tema.

Contractors working on the project, Shimizu Dai-Nippon Limited of Japan, have already constructed by-passes near the Aflao Lorry Station through to the former Ouando Filling Station. The by-passes are to serve as exit routes for motorists travelling from Accra through the roundabout to the Tema Port, Aflao and Akosombo.

The roundabout is being expanded into a three-tier interchange. The Japanese government is financing the expansion under the auspices of the Japanese Development Agency (JICA) at a cost of $57 million. When completed, the interchange will help reduce traffic along the roundabout which is a connecting point on the West Africa transnational highway.

The portions of road marked for closure will remain closed until completion of the first phase of the interchange project in June 2020.

Traffic management

According to Mr Yeboah, “the GHA and the contractors are collaborating with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in Tema to deploy police officers along the affected routes to ensure that there are no gridlocks, especially during rush hours.”

He said alternate emergency routes were also being worked on from the traffic lights at the Tema Free Zones Junction through to the Tema Steel Works and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) offices for motorists who may want to avoid possible traffic jam along the diversionary routes near the roundabout.

Mr Yeboah appealed to the public to cooperate with the police and the contractors for timely completion of the project.

For his part, the Deputy Regional Commander of the Police MTTD, ASP Paul Bruce Amoah, said 20 police personnel would be deployed along the designated routes from the day of the closure.

He said they would manage traffic and ensure normality until such time that motorists would become familiar with diversions at the roundabout.

The Project Manager at Shimizu, Mr Uemura Yujin, said the company was not anticipating gridlocks since there would not be significant changes in travel time within the roundabout.