President John Dramani Mahama yesterday cut the sod for the construction
of a three-tier interchange at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.
The 74.88 million euro project is being jointly financed with credit from the Brazilian Government and the Ghana Government.
It is scheduled to be completed within 24 months.
According to the project design, the first of the interchanges will link the Akasanoma Road to the Nsawam Road, around the Vodafone building.
The other interchange will link the Nsawam Road to the Nkrumah Avenue, around the Ghana Commercial Bank building, while the third interchange will link Ring Road Central to Ring Road West.
Aside from the three-tier interchange, other roads around the Kwame Nkrumah Circle will be improved. These include the rehabilitation of Ring Road East to the Feo Oyo Intersection on Ring Road West.
The roads will be constructed to asphaltic concrete surface, with pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths.
Besides, the contractors, M/S Queiroz Galvao Constucao from Brazil, will provide passenger sheds and drainage systems at the Neoplan and Odawna lorry stations.
Landscaping and tree planting will be undertaken to improve the environment around the area, while provision has been made on the roads for future Bus Rapid Transit lanes.
A police post, a fire service post and an ambulance centre will be constructed under the interchange to provide security and other emergency services for motorists and pedestrians.
President on the Circle Project
President Mahama said the construction of the three-tier Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange was a very important project which was long overdue.
He said considering the nature of Accra, Kwame Nkrumah Circle was the busiest interchange in the city and had become a bottleneck in the urban transportation system.
The President said the interchange would facilitate traffic flow and connect the various areas, while the drains would control flooding in the area.
He said the construction of the police post would help fight crime at the circle, while the fire service post and the ambulance centre would provide emergency services in case of a fire outbreak or an accident.
He said he had spoken with the contractors and that “the work will go very fast”.
He said the contractors would work more at night and during the weekends in order not to disrupt traffic very much.
However, he said, there would be some inconvenience to motorists and urged them to bear with the contractors during the 24-month period that the construction would go on. Arterial Roads
President Mahama said in addition to the construction of the interchange, the government was undertaking major arterial road development projects in Accra and other cities.
He said those projects were targeted at reducing travel time on the major road corridors.
He listed the rehabilitation of the Giffard Road and Burma Camp roads within the Accra East corridor and the construction of the Awoshie-Pokuase road in Accra as some of the projects.
Major Roads
President Mahama said the government would expand the Tema Motorway into a six-lane road, with an interchange at the Tema Motorway Roundabout.
He announced that the government was finalising documentation for the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi road and indicated that an interchange would be constructed at Kasoa to ease the traffic there.
The President said roads were very important to people, hence the determination of the government to improve roads across the country.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, said the Kwame Nkrumah Circle project was designed to address “the severe congestion, as well as high incidence of accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles, due to the long delays experienced at the intersection”.
He said the project would reduce average travel time for vehicles and pedestrians reduce the incidence of flooding and mitigate the release of poisonous smoke from vehicles.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Julius Debrah, said the project was part of the government’s efforts at raising the standard of Accra.
Brazilian Ambassador
The Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Irene Gala, said the contracting company would make use of local content and also develop the capacity and technical know-how of Ghanaian workers.
She described the project as a major step in strengthening the bilateral and technical cooperation between Ghana and Brazil.
Daily Graphic
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