Traffic alert: Spintex road underpass closed over faulty pipeline – Ministry

The Ministry of Roads and Highways has closed to traffic the Spintex road underpass which leads to East Legon in Accra in the Greater Accra Region.

According to the Ministry, the closure is because of some emergency repair works on a major water transmission pipeline in that part of the city which had broken down.

“The repair works have resulted in the temporary closure of the Spintex road underpass into East Legon” the Ministry noted in a statement.

The statement jointly signed by the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Ghana Water Company said the works on the pipeline will be completed by midday on Friday, September 9, 2016.

“The Ghana Water Company is attending to emergency repair works on its major 600ml water transmission lines to Accra, along the Spintex road underpass road. The transmission lines serve areas such as Spintex, Baatsona, East Legon, among others,” the statement added.

The statement added that the works are extremely necessary and urgent to enable the restoration of regular supply of water to the surrounding communities as well as prevent the possible caving in of the road, arising from the leakage of the pipelines.

“The Ministry of Roads and Highways, acting through the department of Urban Roads, together with the Minsitry of Water Resources, Works and Housing as well as the Ghana Water Company appeal to the general public, especially commuters who use the route in question to bear with us as we take urgent steps to restore the situation to normalcy by midday tomorrow, Friday, September 9, 2016. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” the statement added.

Heavy traffic hits parts of Accra
Some major streets in Accra were on Thursday evening hit by heavy vehicular traffic with the Legon-Tetteh Quarshie, 37-Legon and Legon-Madina roads being some of the hardest hit.

Some road users say that they have been in what seems like a gridlock for hours.

Photo by Jojo Chartei Quansah [Facebook] Citi FM's Benard Avle posted on Facebook that this was the worst vehicular traffic that he has seen.

Some believe the cause of the situation is because of the closure of the Spintex road underpass.

There were similar complaints from listeners of the Citi Breakfast Show who were using the Legon-Tetteh Quarshie road on Thursday morning.

Those who normally use public transport have been left stranded, while hawkers have taken the opportunity to market their wares to the occupants of vehicles that are in the traffic.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonilne.com/Ghana