One Way, Only Way: When the Accra-Kumasi Road Fails, You Fly or You Sit

On Monday, August 3, 2026, the choice facing every traveler on the Accra-Kumasi corridor was laid bare in the starkest possible terms. A pile-up at Birimso Bridge on the N6 Highway did not just slow traffic it stopped it completely, in both directions, for hours. For the thousands of people caught on either side of the wreckage, there was no detour, no parallel route, and no second road to peel off onto. There was only the choice that defines this corridor: sit and wait, or find another way entirely which, for those who could afford it, increasingly means the air.

The crash that closed the only road
The Ghana Police Service confirmed that a pile-up involving a high-occupancy passenger bus, a loaded articulated truck, and a sedan at Birimso Bridge produced a complete blockade of the N6 Highway for both Accra-bound and Kumasi-bound traffic. The severe impact of the collision brought vehicular movement on the stretch to an abrupt standstill, leaving commuters stranded on both sides of the wreck while emergency crews worked the scene.

With the highway itself impassable, authorities had nothing to offer but detours through smaller roads never built for the volume. Police diverted Accra-bound traffic through Kibi at Nsutam, while motorists heading to Kumasi were rerouted through Apedwa, with the diversions remaining in effect as recovery work continued. Motorists were advised to expect significant delays, with the busy highway rendered impassable for vehicles travelling in either direction.

This was not an isolated event. In April 2026, a crash near Suhum involving a passenger bus and a diesel trailer caused by wrongful overtaking killed one person and injured nine of the 33 passengers on board. A month earlier, a fuel tanker travelling from Tema to Kumasi overturned on the same highway, spilling petrol and forcing a temporary closure that left both commuters and freight vehicles stranded.

In April, a separate head-on collision at Akyem Sekyere between a VIP bus and a Toyota Prado triggered a major gridlock that left travelers stranded for hours, timed cruelly around the Easter travel rush. Each incident tells the same story: on a single-carriageway road with no built-in redundancy, one crash does not just delay a journey it can suspend the entire corridor.

The two real options when the road shuts down
When the N6 fails, Ghanaians are left with essentially two choices and neither is a real solution.

The first is to wait it out parked on the shoulder, in a bus, or in a diverted queue through towns like Kibi and Apedwa that were never designed to absorb a national highway's traffic. Depending on the severity of the crash and how long recovery takes, that wait has stretched from hours into what past incidents show can become an entire day.

The New Year gridlock earlier this year offered the starkest precedent: motorists and passengers spent between twelve and twenty-four hours stranded in traffic across Juaso, Asankari and Dwaso after a large church convention overwhelmed the corridor no crash even required, simply too many vehicles on the only road available.

The second option is to abandon the road altogether. For business travellers, officials, and anyone who can absorb the cost, that increasingly means booking a seat on one of the domestic carriers flying the route. PassionAir and Africa World Airlines operate direct flights between Accra and Kumasi with an average flight time of just 40 minutes, compared to a road journey that can run four to six hours in ordinary traffic and considerably longer during a blockage. As of mid-2026, there were roughly 210 flights a week on the route, with one-way fares from around $86. Africa World Airlines alone runs up to ten scheduled flights a day between the two cities.

Forty minutes in the air versus an open-ended wait on a blocked highway is not, for most Ghanaians, a real choice at all it is a reflection of who can buy their way out of the country's infrastructure gap and who cannot. Market traders, students, and salaried workers without the means for an $86 fare have no option but to sit, however long it takes.

A country waiting on its second road
Government's answer to this exact problem is the new Accra-Kumasi Expressway now under construction. The planned six-lane, 176-kilometre expressway is expected to cut travel time between the two cities to roughly two hours, with an estimated total cost of $4 billion.

As of late July 2026, US$1.7 billion had already been ring-fenced in a dedicated account at the Bank of Ghana, and the Ghana Armed Forces had cleared about 70 per cent of the required right-of-way within twelve weeks. Feasibility studies and engineering designs are due to be completed by the end of August 2026, with contractor selection expected to begin in September.

Until that road is finished realistically, years away the Birimso Bridge pile-up is a preview of what every Ghanaian travelling this corridor will keep facing: one road, one point of failure, and a choice between paying to fly over the problem or sitting in it for as long as it takes to clear.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.
International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP
[email protected]
+233-555-275-880

References:
GhanaWeb, "PHOTOS: Accra-Kumasi Highway completely blocked after bus crashes into articulated truck," August 3, 2026 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/PHOTOS-Accra-Kumasi-Highway-completely-blocked-after-bus-crashes-into-articulated-truck-2046169

Rainbow Radio Online, "Severe pile-up crash blocks Accra-Kumasi highway at Birimso Bridge," August 3, 2026 https://rainbowradioonline.com/2026/08/03/severe-pile-up-crash-blocks-accra-kumasi-highway-at-birimso-bridge/

Ghanaian Times, "Traffic diverted on Accra-Kumasi highway after major crash at Birimso bridge" https://ghanaiantimes.com.gh/traffic-diverted-on-accra-kumasi-highway-after-major-crash-at-birimso-bridge/

Ghana News Agency, "One killed, nine injured in Accra-Kumasi highway crash near Suhum," April 15, 2026 https://gna.org.gh/2026/04/one-killed-nine-injured-in-accra-kumasi-highway-crash-near-suhum/
Citi Newsroom, "One dead, several injured in head-on collision on Accra-Kumasi Highway," April 2, 2026 https://citinewsroom.com/2026/04/one-dead-several-injured-in-head-on-collision-on-accra-kumasi-highway/

Citi Newsroom, "Mahama justifies Accra–Kumasi expressway, cites New Year traffic gridlock," January 6, 2026 https://citinewsroom.com/2026/01/mahama-justifies-accra-kumasi-expressway-cites-new-year-traffic-gridlock/

Skyscanner, "Flights from Accra (ACC) to Kumasi (KMS)" https://www.skyscanner.com/routes/acc/kms/accra-to-kumasi.html

Alternative Airlines, "Africa World Airlines" https://www.alternativeairlines.com/africa-world-airlines

Ecofin Agency, "Ghana Advances Plans for 176-Km Accra-Kumasi Highway" https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-infrastructures/2807-57782-ghana-advances-plans-for-176-km-accra-kumasi-highway
ModernGhana.com,

"Government secures US$1.7 billion for Accra-Kumasi Expressway Finance Minister" https://www.modernghana.com/news/1513309/government-secures-us17-billion-for-accra-kumasi.html