NRSC team inspects Nsawam bypass to improve its road safety

Officials from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) on Wednesday toured the Nsawam bypass to inspect and recommend facilities that could be installed to improve safety on portions of the 9.3 kilometre stretch of road.

The Accra-Nsawam dual carriage by-pass though not yet handed over to the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) is unofficially opened to motorist and had recorded rapid road crashes that had claimed the lives of more than 10 people.

The inspection team advised that appropriate road signs needed to be installed to improve safety on the highway.

Other recommendations by the team were the construction of enough foot bridges (which is currently non-existent), appropriate rest stops for bread sellers to ply their trade, and the leveling of a steep portion of the road especially at Sekyikrom, a condition that had contributed towards road crashes.

Mr Noble Appiah, Executive Director at the NRSC, who led the inspection team to the office of Mark Amoako Dompreh, the Municipal Chief Executive, after the tour on the highway, said the recommendations were temporary measures that could be implemented to prevent road crashes on some identifiable spots.

The team was made up of some officials from the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) and the Akuapem South District Assembly.

Copies of the National Road Safety Strategy and road safety guidelines were presented to Mr Dompreh who pledged to assist in removing some of the “death traps”, especially heaps of sand, stones and debris on the road at Doboro junction.

On the construction of appropriate rest stop for bread sellers, he expressed dissatisfaction that the previous New Patriotic Party administration did not factor that in the blue-print and agreement with the construction firm.

Mr Dompreh said he was still in consultation with the Ministry of Roads and Highways for the rapid creation of the rest stop on a 40-acre land earmarked for the project.

Madam May Obiri-Yeboah, Director of Planning and Programming at the NRSC, called on the media to give road safety campaign a priority in their reportage especially in the run up to the December polls to help reduce road crashes.

The Nsawam bypass stretches from the Ofankor-Nsawam dual carriageway and ends at Kwafokrom on the outskirts of Nsawam.

The project, which is funded by the African Development Bank and the Government, is being constructed by the Messrs China Railway Engineering (Wuju) Corporation.

DSP Samuel Ntosoh, the Nsawam Municipal MTTU Commander, said four spots on the bypass had thus far been identified as accident-prone areas and these include Doboro, Sekyikrom, Adoagyiri and Okanta.

He said the Okanta junction was the worst hit spot, recording a greater number of road crashes than the other three in recent times.