Contractors working on the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange are making the final touches to complete the project which was inaugurated by President John Dramani Mahama last Monday.
According to the consultants, there was only one per cent of work left for the project to be completed.
Some of the final touches being done include patching of potholes around traffic lights and on pavements, planting of hedges, fixing of the remaining road signs and barricades.
These came to light when officials from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service inspected the project in Accra yesterday.
The project
The project, which was funded with a loan from the Brazilian government and handed over by the Brazilian construction firm, Quieiroz Galvao, is expected to ease traffic, reduce travel time for commuters as well as vehicle operating cost to stimulate local economic growth.
The construction of the interchange became necessary following constant heavy traffic at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, which handled over 84,000 vehicles from the arterial roads and their intersections daily.
Work so far
According to the consultant, Mr Michael Kokoe, 99 per cent of the work on the road had been completed.
“It is only left with some minor issues or work that must be done which include completion of the pavement blocks, rectifying some anomalies with the road signs, and the road markings which are very basic,” he said.
He stated that the minor touches would be done within a month. However, some may enter into the defect liability period. “We have one year to rectify any defects or anomalies,” he added.
Road signs
The Principal Engineer of Road Safety, Ms Pat Onny, stated that most of the issues concerning the interchange were related to the enforcement of road traffic regulations.
The Commanding Officer of the Central MTTD, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Anderson Fosu Ackaah, said the police would ensure that people did not overlook the road signs.
“For now, because there are new designs and road signs, it is our duty to observe those who ignore the signs and map up a strategy to educate and enforce the laws to ensure safety on the road, ” he said.
He also said majority of the people were using the road wrongly and they needed to stop them to prevent accidents from occurring.
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