Pokuase Interchange opens - 4-tier facility first in West Africa
The country’s first-ever four-tier interchange at Pokuase in Accra on the Accra-Nsawam-Kumasi road has been opened to traffic.
This was after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, cut the tape at the project site on the National Road Six (N6) to inaugurate the $84 million project, also touted as the first of its kind in West Africa.
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The then Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, on behalf of the President, cut the sod for work to start on the project in July 2018, thus completion of the main interchange has been achieved in 36 months.
Project scope
President Akufo-Addo noted that the project involved the construction of the 6.5-kilometre Awoshie - Pokuase Road, an interchange at the intersection of ACP Junction to Awoshie to Nsawam road, two footbridges, the widening of the Nsawam Road by some two kilometres (km), drainage works, the provision of streetlights and the construction of 12km off town roads.
Other components are the rehabilitation of the Pobiman Women’s Group Centre to train women in pastry, bread, soap and bead making; the rehabilitation of the Manchie Gari Factory for the processing of cassava into gari and starch.
Also in the scope of the project are the protection of the three-hectare Gua Sacred Forest; the provision of ICT laboratories for 14 basic schools, which will help train some 10,000 basic schoolchildren within the Ga North, South, Central and West municipalities, in the knowledge of information and communications technology (ICT).
Addresses congestion
President Akufo-Addo said the Pokuase Interchange was an integral part of comprehensive measures the government had put in place to address congestion in urban centres and help improve travel times on major arterial roads.
To that end, he said, the government had begun the construction of Phase II of the Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange; the Tamale Interchange; the PTC Roundabout Interchange in Takoradi; the Nungua Interchange, which was part of the La Beach Road Completion Project; the Adjiringanor Overpass, where ongoing works would be completed by the first quarter of 2022, and the second phase of the Tema Motorway Interchange.
Varied designs, components
President Akufo-Addo said the original contract design was for a three-tier interchange, but through official management by his government, the interchange was modified to a four-tier structure within the same contract sum.
He indicated that under his government, $289 million had been used to construct three interchanges at Pokuase, Obetsebi-Lamptey and Tamale, as opposed to $260 million used only for the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange.
“These are further examples of the fact that we in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are good protectors of the public purse,” he added.
More roads
In addition to the construction of interchanges, the government had embarked on a number of projects to improve urban mobility in the country to help reduce travel times on our roads, the President stated.
They include the construction of about 1,200km of asphalt overlay throughout the country in his first term under the Year of Roads.
He added that between 2021 and 2024, the Ministry of Roads and Highways had programmed to undertake the construction of 1,500km of asphalt overlay.
Result
President Akufo-Addo said the construction of the Pukuase Interchange had resulted in the provision of some four hectares of prime urban space underneath the interchange which must be put to good use for the benefit of the country.
He charged the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwesi Amoako-Atta, to liaise with the Ga North Municipal Assembly to develop the prime land to benefit the status of the interchange.
Piles
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Amoako-Atta, said during the construction, a total of 497 piles were sunk, translating to almost 8km (8,000m) length for the foundation works.
He announced that provision had been made for pedestrian walkways and bus stops, while two footbridges had been provided to enable pedestrians to cross the main Accra-Kumasi Road in the vicinity of the interchange.
Mr Amoako-Atta explained that pelican crossings had been provided on the Ayawaso and Amamole sections of the Awoshie-Pokuase Road and in addition to these, almost 7 kilometres of storm drains had been constructed to prevent the incidence of flooding within the influence areas of the interchange.
Mr Amoako-Atta said other safety measures such as road markings and signs, crash barriers, pedestrian handrails, fences and height restriction gantries had been provided as part of the recommendations from a road safety audit conducted before the opening of the interchange.
