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Journeying on the accra-tema Motorway

The Easter holidays afforded me the opportunity to link up with family and friends on the other side of the harbour city, Tema.  That meant using the Accra-Tema motorway once again.

Somehow, I was looking forward to  journey on the motorway as I trusted that route was going to be the quickest and quieter given the holiday period we were in.  My expectation was short-lived.  Even before I got to the Accra side of the tollbooth, which was only some seven minutes’ drive from the Accra Mall roundabout, I started debating within me whether I had not taken the wrong decision to get to Tema via the motorway.   

I watched on as a tanker driver, who was two vehicles ahead of me, tried to slow down into one of the lanes heading for the ticket booth.  He suddenly swerved, almost grazing the side of a smaller vehicle which was also trying to get into the same lane on his blind side. 

Instantly, I sensed that my expectations were not going to be met. I was expecting a more relaxed driving experience on quite a familiar road.  The tanker driver nearly changed that for me.  As I watched on, I felt that I needed to brace myself for a tense journey. I knew the motorway well all right but for safety, it appeared nothing seemed to have changed.

It did not take more than three minutes after I had exited the tollbooth to realise that indeed, the careless, irritating driving habits of some motorists on that beautiful motorway had not gone anywhere.  For the next twenty minutes, my heart was in my mouth as I journeyed on.  

I could not believe that drivers were still driving recklessly on the motorway knowing the dangers involved and particularly on a holiday weekend where the temptation for drunken drivers to be on the roads was quite high.  People were speeding to the tail of other vehicles ahead of them and making swift weaves through slow-paced vehicles as if to push the others; slowing them down off the road.  When it came to driving skills, surely the place to test it was not the motorway.  

The unevenness of some portions of the road due to patching and repair works is risky and poses dangers for even the most careful motorists. There are many such patchy works in the outer lane of the Tema-Accra stretch.  Motorists who are unfamiliar with the road could easily fall victim if they do not know where to slow down.  

The potholes which might have necessitated those patched works have left part of the road seriously uneven and consequently dangerous for the kind of speed with which people travel on the motorway.  No wonder some drivers get stuck in the inner lane no matter their speed because they want to stay safe from the uneven patches.

During my journey over the weekend, something that struck me was the extent of developments that had come up along the motorway.  Coupled with that, the population of inhabitants in the area seemed to have increased within the short spate of time that I stopped using that route.  

Buildings, both residential and commercial, have sprung up on both sides of the road.  Accra now, it appears, is joined to Tema.  The developments are certainly a good sign but with their proximity to the busy motorway, they are threats to the safety and well-being of the inhabitants and workers who are crossing the road from one side to the other.

Certainly when the motorway was constructed in the 1960s, it was rarely anticipated that such a fast highway would one day become the centre of active human settlement and activities.  For now, what should worry us is how to stop the recklessness of those motorists who are using the motorway primarily as their quick escape to and from Accra.  As a result, they are breaching road safety at the risk of other motorists and road users.

The 50-year-old motorway has seen the best of times, carrying all sizes, shapes and various brands of vehicles.  It has opened the avenue for tons of goods to be transported across the country and to other neighbouring countries.  Unfortunately, it continues to be abused by motorists to the extent that it remains one of the “must-watch” roads in the country.   What becomes of the fast developments, particularly the human settlements that are springing up?

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