Classification of Roads and Planning in Ghana – Tony Asare

30th June, 2019

This was a piece shared by my senior Tony Asare, an architect and a Ghanaian Citizen and not spectator. These are the kinds of professionals we need in Ghana to ensure that we can change our situation for the better. Our current national development and governance contraption under our current constitutional arrangement of voting for politicians to come to grab property and work to ensure that they are reelected in the next 4 years. Where all citizens do in national governance is to vote every 4 years and go to sleep has to improve. This is better than the dictatorships but not what we deserve as a country. We need to improve our governance system, we need engaged citizens and more activism technocrats and academics. You and I are failing Ghana, we need to improve our contributions to national development discussions, we cannot reduce everything to NPP-NDC and leave Ghana out of it. We need to bring Ghana first and to the front, center, and behind. It should be the next generation and not the next elections in everything we do.  This is what Toni had to say

Driving on the motorway has become anything but enjoyable. It has become dangerous, inconvenient, slow, obstructive, conflicting and even annoying. So on the morning when Citi FM together with the Police started their campaign to curb, all occupants of my car were pleased with their effort. Much more will be needed to stop illegal U-turns, driving along the shoulders of the road and all the danger we see on the motorway and many other roads in most highly urbanized roads in Ghana.

Prior to the presence of cameras and journalists, the police always arrested offending drivers most mornings. Somehow they never ended up in court in scores and droves. You are tempted to ask where the “fines” went. And of course, those tinted, siren-blaring 4-wheel drives that prefer to use the shoulders of the motorway, undermine these areas and eventually destroy the roads are allowed to drive off. You should not be surprised to see a policeman salute them.

However, the focus in fighting recalcitrant traffic breaches as we have seen lately in my humble opinion should be towards a more permanent and civilized solution that should control road use in Ghana in general.

The motorway serves as a good case study. It was opened in November 1965. As a highway, there was no need to have street lights on it. In June 2002 we saw it lighted for the first, time since it was becoming unsafe; incessant robberies, potholes, and increased pedestrian activities, as communities grew around it.

The speed classification was about 120km/h from the onset. But lately, it takes approximately 27 minutes to cross the 19.3km stretch at peak hours and about 15 minutes otherwise. This means the average speed on the motorway now is barely 43km/h in the mornings and evenings and probably just about 77km/h off-peak.

Urban expressways are designed for speeds of about 80km/h and arterial and sub-arterial roads are designed to accommodate about 50km/h. The classification of the motorway is gradually getting closer to a distributor or collector road and it bears all the characteristics of such road classification. It begs the question of whether we should still treat it as an expressway or be forward thinking and properly look at all the planning requirements to reclassify it.

One of the key qualities of an urban sub-arterial road is its multi-access. They connect communities and zoned areas. The Motorway has become just that. Various warehouses now have direct access. Some of these warehouses were initially designed with accesses from the industrial zones areas. Due to weak development control, these warehouses and factories have created accesses to the motorway and the Ghana Highway Authority whose jurisdiction the motorway falls has done nothing about it.

Traditionally, our nodal distribution transportation system festers Trotro, taxi and Okada stations along urbanized arterial roads at points where they feed into communities. There are clear stops that we refuse to plan for. Our planning still focuses on privately owned vehicles and not for commercial vehicles. A broader user scope must be looked at to give more sustainable engineering solutions. Let me explain with a few examples on the motorway.

Tema Motorway Roundabout had Trotro, taxi and Okada terminals at almost three corners of the roundabout prior to the commencement of the construction of the interchange. There was the taxi station which occupied part of the Total Filling Station. This taxi station has encroached the filling station and it keeps growing. Then there was another Trotro station just across that had the Aflao direction bound vehicles on the same side as the Tarzan/Winners Chapel stretch. Then there was the Akosombo direction bound Trotro station that also had a station for towing vehicles.

The public is yet to be shown where these lorry parks will be relocated along with the commercial and increased activities that come with it.

When the abattoir connector was being designed, it is certain that the documentation picked up a taxi rank that had grown in size very close to the slaughterhouse. The road designers had all the land to accommodate a decent taxi rank that could have been planned to make the area safer and more organized. Of course, most junctions become nodal transportation hubs and this could have easily been identified. This is a clear omission and once again, individual citizens would try and have their own convenient solutions. They will stop and attempt to scuttle across the motorway. As pedestrians cross vehicles slow down are exposed to danger. A footbridge could have been added to make crossing safer for pedestrians. This point has become a dangerous conflict point and many souls have been lost. Buses stop and there is no lay-by. They join the motorway at speeds that cause accidents every now and then. The planning was simply inadequate.

There are a few more stops that are clearly a result of the motorway’s classification on a gradual decline. In fact, there are other evolving issues resulting from the growth of settlements. A careful study of originating traffic from parts of the neighboring communities and the destinations clearly show that many interchanges may be needed at about three areas along the motorway. These, when introduced will reduce cost and time of travel for motorists. Anyone who lives in Community 18 and its environs and works at East Legon area will confirm this. Unfortunately, in planning in Ghana, desire paths are defined and planning rather follows and this must be reversed.

These are strong pull factors. Ghana Highway Authority should consider declassifying the motorway as a highway and hand over the road to urban roads. Tolls collection must stop. Our transportation planners should start considering integrating the roads to some key community accesses and make the use sustainable. Planning is a tool that should make the use of such public infrastructure convenient, safe and sustainable. Our agencies must learn to do broader consultation in planning our infrastructure to bring change.

These are some of the commentaries that follow,

Kwadwo Adu-nyako Eric Tony…would they listen. Hmmmm! 

So my response was Edem Ashigbi Kwadwo the very reason why all of us should be screaming loudly for them to be forced to hear. Let’s all share this article and based on the insight ask more question and talk the more. Professionals are sleeping and abdicating our responsibilities and leaving the space to the politicians. We need a combination of professionals and politicians to build Ghana. I will copy and post this on my blog, crediting Tony Asare

Thonnhy Oduro Menua Yaw Anthony, this is a great piece of free info delivered as a good citizen (omanbapa), however, the question still remains…
WILL THEY LISTEN? They, as a matter of fact, know of all these, my brother, but because it’ll not translate into quids for their pockets, they’ll not do it. After all, the roads are not for them.

Tony Asare Gavuu, they won’t listen. We will keep talking until something happens.

Edem Ashigbi Tony Asare That is the spirit, we should not stop talking. Professional associations should join and push

Thonnhy Oduro Yes, we will talk and talk and talk till one day… the appointed time arrives.
How can we be marking time like this? The Amphitheatre at Rome was built hundreds of years back and it is a tourist site today. Rome has moved on. We are yet to get to the era of the amphitheater.
Hahahahahahaahaaa…. yiiieeeeeee oman ben koraaa nea?

Tony Asare This morning I joined the motorway at 7.30am at Ashaiman Interchange and crossed the motorway in 25min.

Florence Nortey I usually cross the motorway in about 25-30minutes on a daily basis. You need to stop for pedestrians to cross and for some cars to join in at the Trassaco junction and Sidalco. People keep dying but they never stop.

Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui Tony 2 days ago we actually had to stop for pedestrians to cross near Sidalco. Then I thought aah ba! Urban roads just come and take over!

Tony Asare Sedalco was the first company to open their entrance to the motorway and others have followed. No public officer stopped them from creating private direct access to an expressway. Now here we are….it doesn’t make sense at all

Nana Sakyi Just now, we were forced to a stop by pedestrians trying to cross. A delivery truck, obviously poorly maintained could not stop and went unto the left shoulder, grazing the sides of 3 vehicles, and sending the 10 or so pedestrians flying into the drain in the median to avoid getting run over. Just now, less than 10 minutes ago, while I was reading this…

Edem Ashigbi We need to start taking legal action against public officers who will not act and people who flout our laws and act with impunity. You go on to National Roads and MCE & DCEs without any engineering acumen will construct speed humps on these roads and endanger the lives of people, against the express advise of engineers. People die and nothing happens to them. Politics is not superior to Technical acumen.

Harold Esseku Tony Asare! Is the pen still mightier than the sword? Has it been so misused in our corner that wise words no longer have any impact?

Tony Asare Harold Esseku my response is a window into my next write-up….leadership has no consequence in Ghana. We can have our say all 4 years and they can have their way all 4 years as well. 

We don’t have a choice but to vote either way. When we vote it endorses how they take decisions, spend our money, fly business, flout traffic rules, take their kids to schools that their policies do not cover, go to hospitals that NHIS doesn’t cover. They simply will have their way until we have a critical mass that will redefine democracy. I don’t think the Constitution as it is now serves my purpose as a citizen. Simple…the pen and voice have lost their might.

Harold Esseku Close to June 4, 16 & 26… That critical mass sends shivers down my spine!

Tony Asare Same here.

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