OccupyGhana pushes for more safety on Madina-Adentan stretch

Pressure group OccupyGhana has urged the government to improve the overall road safety on the Madina-Adenta highway as plans are put in place to complete footbridges on the stretch.

The government has announced that  work is to commence  on the uncompleted footbridges on the Madina-Adenta highway from next week after a number of accidents on the stretch.

The accidents, some of which have resulted in deaths, sparked a number of protests, the most intense of which took place on Thursday.

OccupyGhana said it was disappointed in the slow reaction of the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Roads and Highways, and the Ghana Highways Authority describing the state’s moves as “unforgivingly belated.”

These authorities have failed to take the required safety measures to save the lives of innocent Ghanaians who must cross the roads in the conduct of their everyday business.

In addition to the measures proposed by the government, OccupyGhana called for specific speed limits to be imposed and enforced on that stretch of road; the additions of rumble strips, the replacing of faulty traffic lights and more education, among others.

The group also said, “officials of the MTTD of the Ghana Police must be on duty at all times to control the traffic situation till all works are completed on the repair and installation of the traffic lights and rumble streets.”

Find below the full statement
OCCUPYGHANA® PRESS STATEMENT
OCCUPYGHANA® PRESENTS IMMEDIATE SOLUTIONS FOR REDUCING THE CARNAGE ON TETTEH QUARSHIE-ADENTA HIGHWAY (N4)

OccupyGhana® is alarmed at the spate of pedestrian deaths on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta Highway (N4) in Accra due primarily to the unavailability of safe crossing facilities on the road. The latest accident in which a first-year female student of West Africa Senior High School (WASS) was reported to have been killed becomes the 194th reported death on the Madina-Adentan Highway this year.

OccupyGhana® joins the nation in grieving with the bereaved families of the deceased.

The incident, which caused angry residents to set ablaze car tyres to register their protest to the government, is deeply regrettable and would have been avoidable had government been proactive in arresting the situation sooner.

OccupyGhana® is surprised that after 11 years of the construction of the highway, none of the footbridges have been completed. This has made it unsafe for pedestrians to cross the multiple-lane highway. It is expected that footbridges, which form the integral safety of pedestrians, must be constructed before the commissioning of any highway.

OccupyGhana® is disappointed in the slow reaction of the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Roads and Highways, and the Ghana Highways Authority to handling this issue, thus causing the reported loss of 194 lives. These authorities have failed to take the required safety measures to save the lives of innocent Ghanaians who must cross the roads in the conduct of their everyday business.

Although we acknowledge government's statement in dealing with the situation, and find it unforgivingly belated, we assure the government that we will hold them to it.

In addition to the measures proposed by government, OccupyGhana® calls for the following immediate measures to be implemented in curbing the carnage on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta Highway (N4):

1. Specific speed limits should be imposed and enforced on that stretch of road;
2. Rumble strips should be constructed on the long stretch of road beginning from the University of Ghana to the Pantang end of the highway to reduce the unnecessary speeding of drivers;
3. Government should replace all faulty traffic lights with modern, solar-powered lights and provide extra traffic lights with toucan crossing system to allow free flow of traffic;
4. Public education must be extended to the public on safe crossing of the highways, by the National Road Safety Commission;
5. Officials of the MTTD of the Ghana Police must be on duty at all times to control the traffic situation till all works are completed on the repair and installation of the traffic lights and rumble streets;
6. Government must provide adequate road signs and markings along this stretch, fix reflectors on the kerbs and designate and mark crosswalks where pedestrians have priority over vehicular traffic;
7. Government should fix all streetlights along the corridor and ensure they are properly maintained; and
8. Enforce our traffic laws!

OccupyGhana® is concerned about road safety measures on other highways, most especially the N1 highway that is claiming a lot of lives. Government should apply these same measures on the N1 highway.

Yours in the service of occupying minds for God and Country

OccupyGhana®
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
Follow @delalibessa