Ayi-Mensah-Peduase road: 35 of 120 streetlights malfunctioning
Driving on the Ayi Mensah-Peduase highway at night is becoming dangerous for motorists and other road users, as many of the streetlights along the road are malfunctioning.
There are 120 streetlights from the beginning of the five-kilometre road at Ayi Mensah to the end of the dual carriageway at the Peduase Presidential Lodge, but only 35 are functional.
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The 35 functional streetlights are mostly found on the stretch of the road from the Presidential Lodge to a popular landmark at Peduase, the Hephzibah Christian Centre, and its surroundings, which are well lit at night, obviously to ensure security for the national and security installation.
The rest of the dual carriageway to and from the Ayi Mensah tollbooth is completely dark at night, posing serious danger to motorists and other road users due to poor visibility on the curvy road.
The Ayi Mensah-Peduase stretch is part of the National Route Four (N4) that begins at the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange in Accra and runs through Adenta, Peduase, Aburi, Koforidua and Asokore to join the N6 — the Accra-Kumasi road — at Bunso in the Eastern Region.
Covering a distance of 110 kilometres (about 68 miles), the trunk road serves as an alternate route from Accra to Kumasi.
Beyond the Peduase Presidential Lodge, the road leads to a number of major communities, markets, schools and tourist sites in the Eastern Region.
Visit
After a number of night visits to the Ayi Mensah stretch of the N4 since the beginning of this month, the Daily Graphic noticed that drivers and other road users had to contend with darkness on the hilly stretch, which has deep precipices on the sides.
Almost all the light poles mounted in the median of the road nearly 50 metres apart have bulbs fixed on them, yet they were malfunctioning during the checks.
The situation has subsequently killed night business at the Ayi Mensah part of the road and traders who ply their trade near the closed tollbooth are hard hit.
The Daily Graphic team also observed that a few of the light poles had been knocked down by speeding vehicles.
The team also detected that some parts of the crash barriers meant to keep vehicles within their road way and prevent them from colliding with dangerous obstacles had been destroyed by speeding vehicles.
Essence of street lighting
Street lighting has become very important in road construction worldwide, as it ensures safety, guidance and direction for road users.
Most drivers rely on the improved visibility provided by streetlights during the night to prevent collision.
A driver of a commercial vehicle who operates from Madina to Koforidua, Steven Ofei, confirmed that the stretch of the road had been engulfed in darkness for more than a year now.
That, he said, impaired visibility on the road at night and posed a risk because some of the crash barriers had been destroyed by speeding vehicles.
Another commercial driver who plies Madina to Aburi, Eugene Boadu, said the dew and darkness at night made visibility poor and so the absence of functional streetlights was a nightmare for driving there at night.
A truck driver, Theophilus Opoku, who transports foodstuffs and usually used the road at night, said the poor visibility issue affected major streets on the Akuapem Ridge and said it made plying the stretch dangerous.
“I often transport foodstuffs from the farming areas but it has become very difficult to drive at night. It is not only the Peduase stretch that does not have functional streetlights; many parts of the Akuapem Ridge also have similar situations,” he said.
Similar observations
Reacting to the observation made, the Director of Communications at the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Kwame Atuahene, said the commission had made similar observations with regard to malfunctional street lights on some major roads in Accra.
“Those concerns have come up, together with other areas in the capital. Last year, we started discussions with stakeholders on the subject of visibility to understand the agencies with the frontline responsibility for what could be done to address the situation.
Beyond advocacy and education on road safety, the director said the issue of visibility on the streets was the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy (MoE).
He said the MoE, through the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), had responsibility for the portion of electricity bills paid by consumers for streetlights and for that reason needed to act through its agencies to ensure that there was clear visibility on the roads.
The Public Relations Officer of the La-Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly (LaNMMA), Isaac Odoom, said the assembly was not directly in charge of the streetlights, although they were in LaNMMA’s jurisdiction.
“They are within our jurisdiction, but when it comes to maintenance, we do not have direct control and so I will advise that you direct your questions to the Regional Directorate of the Department of Urban Roads or the ECG,” he said.
Community interactions
Some residents and hawkers who said they plied the route on a daily basis complained that the absence of functional streetlights made it difficult to use the road at night.
A resident of the Ayi Mensah, Thomas Abaoku, said people no longer walked on that stretch at night because thieves hid in the thick darkness to collect belongings of innocent road users.
He said in spite of the road leading to the Presidential Lodge at Peduase, the streetlights had not been working for a while now and no one seemed to care about it.
MoE’s responsibility
When contacted, multiple sources at the MoE said the ministry was only responsible for policy direction to ensure that the streets were visible for road users.
They said the ECG, together with the district assemblies, was the agency mandated to ensure that the streets were lit.