Accra Needs New Arterial Roads to Break Traffic Gridlock

Board Chairman of the Forest Plantation Development Fund, Prof. Martin Oteng‑Ababio, is urging government to prioritise the construction of new arterial and alternative roads in Accra to ease the capital’s crippling traffic congestion.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Face to Face with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Tuesday, May 26, Prof. Oteng‑Ababio said Accra’s current road network forces thousands of commuters onto a handful of major routes, creating daily bottlenecks that worsen whenever a single incident occurs.

“What we have not done best, from my perspective, is the arterial roads. We all have to use the same route from Achimota to Legon. There’s no bypass you can conveniently use. If one car breaks down, it has a rippling effect on the whole traffic system,” he noted.

He stressed that while expanding existing roads is necessary, equal attention must be given to alternative corridors to prevent the entire city from depending on a few overstretched routes.

“Inasmuch as we try to open up the roads, we should also be concentrating on the arterial roads, the alternative roads, so we are not all held in one box, on one road,” he said.

Prof. Oteng‑Ababio also addressed recurring proposals to relocate Ghana’s capital as a solution to congestion, describing it as an option worth considering but not a guaranteed fix.

“I think that it’s a possibility, but it’s not an antidote,” he stated.

He emphasised the need for holistic urban planning that reflects the realities of the diverse population that lives and works in Accra.

---CitiNewsRoom