A worthy response to the Nkrumah Interchange
Today, the main meal would be a faithful reproduction of a meaty response I received from a reader to my effort last week on the state of the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange.
I think it worthwhile for all of us to share in the commonsensical ideas put forward in this response. This has become very essential because the original epistle coincided, unknown to me, with the beginning of the effort by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to clear the interchange of all hawkers and unauthorised structures whose presence formed the basis for my condemnation last week. We have also been informed of the impending removal of those who hawk mobile phones opposite the old Vodafone building. Let us call the writer William.
Before we go on to the letter, however, let me make a few comments on current events. As you read this, the nasty fracas between the Gender Minister and the Northern Regional chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) may have been resolved by the party in its own manner.
Notwithstanding, the matters in the unseemly disgraceful quarrel have nothing to do with party but everything to do with the state and governance. President Akufo-Addo is the leader of the ruling party, but his election makes him a servant of the republic. His appointees rank above party officials no matter their rank in the party, and that is a legal and political fact. It is a pointless and crude battle of egos which harms our President as both a national leader and chieftain in the party on whose ticket he stood.
The dismissal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director in America by President Trump should indicate to us firmly the reach of presidential authority, Mr Comey having served only four out of his ten year tenure as FBI boss. This means for us that the idea of Independent Prosecutor being championed by our government is farcical; he can be sacked at will by the President. It would seem that, to quote another feature writer elsewhere, the poetry of campaigning has caught up with the prose of governance.
In all this, it is governance which suffers. The first few months of this government seems certain to confirm that fiascos, scandals and avoidable missteps may well be its defining characteristics. Let us now read what William wrote:
‘I read your opinion in the Friday May issue of the Daily Graphic. I agree with everything you wrote. However, I feel that you missed the real issue.
The Kwame Nkrumah Interchange was built primarily to ease vehicular movement. As a regular user of this road, little has changed from the days of "circle" after the interchange was opened last year. It still takes me the same amount of time to drive to and from work through this road after the interchange was opened.
Why? Because two of the three lanes directly in front of the Star filling station next to the old Vodafone office on the road leading into Accra central from the Achimota side are perpetually blocked by public service vehicles dropping and picking passengers with total impunity and complete disregard of the rights and convenience of other road users. They compete for these two "grabbed" lanes with taxis and vendors some of whom have set up shops on one of the two lanes. The situation was exactly the same before the interchange project started and nothing has changed.
What does this do? It leaves only one lane on the extreme left for traffic to go through either on the overhead towards Accra Central or towards the right under the interchange. This inevitably leads to unnecessarily long traffic tailbacks all the way back towards Caprice on the Achimota side. The same thing happens on the opposite side of the road on the slip road exiting the interchange towards Nsawam road where two lanes have been blocked by public service vehicles on the opposite side of the Star Filling station.
Sir, this I believe is the real disease affecting this magnificent structure resulting in it not realising the expected benefits to road users. It is a total waste of the resources invested if the traffic is not allowed to flow freely through this interchange. It's even more bitter a taste when you consider that part of the project involved the construction of modern public service vehicle terminals just after the location of the two "grabbed" lanes. Why are these public service vehicles being allowed to do what they do?
One of the main reasons the hawkers in your article hawk their wares there is because the traffic can hardly move as a result of the blockage of the vehicular traffic on the "grabbed" lanes on both sides of the road.
Having lived in Accra for the last seven years, I had celebrated with excitement and anticipation at the potential of this interchange to improve the flow of traffic and I even attended it's inauguration ceremony late last year.
Unfortunately, barely five months later, I'm dejected, disappointed and resigned to accepting that this was just another "talk show" as I have come to learn in my time here and can't help but wonder why Ghanaians accept such impunity as "normal" to the extent that it has become accepted as the norm. The hawkers are not the root cause of the traffic bottlenecks. If the traffic was flowing freely, the hawkers wouldn't have any business there.
This is not a criticism of yourself or the Ghanaian people but I simply can't understand why such impunity can be left to thrive, completely unchallenged, as a normal way of life to the extent that everyone accepts it as normal and nobody does anything about it or sees anything wrong with it.
The solution?
1. Convert (by compulsory acquisition for public good) the Star filling station and the one opposite it into PSV drop off/pick up terminals to remove this disruptive activity from the main road on both sides of the road.
2. After moving the terminals off the two lanes on the main road, strictly enforce existing traffic regulations by punishing drivers who obstruct traffic movement by stopping on the road to drop off and pick up passengers.
This is my two cents on this.
Mr William, I thank you for this and pray those in charge will take something out of it to initiate and continue the laudable process of making our capital both efficient and beautiful.
Writer’s E-mail: [email protected]
