Major portions of the Kasoa-Winneba double-lane road, currently under construction, will be opened to traffic in eight months.
Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, the Minister of Roads and Highways, gave the assurance during a working tour on Tuesday to inspect some road projects in the Central Region.
The single-lane road is being turned into a double lane to ease traffic and reduce the spate of accidents on that stretch, considered to be one of the accident-prone roads in the country.
He was accompanied by officials of the Department of Highways, Urban Roads, and Feeder Roads, Members of Parliament, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives.
Scheduled for completion in 36 months, the Minister expressed joy and satisfaction with the excellent work being executed by the contractors, Nag Fairmount Company Limited and MM Delivery Company Limited.
The $85,328,761 project, funded by the Government, involves the construction of interchanges/Flyover at Sapato, Akoti, Budumburam Awutu, as well as Winneba junction.
Extra service lanes will also be provided at all entry points to the main dualised road to assist commercial drivers pick up and drop passengers.
Upon completion, they will connect Accra to Winneba, Cape Coast and the Western Region.
Beyond that, it would ease vehicular traffic congestion to boost tourism, education and commerce.
However, the contractors mentioned major challenges including unsafe pedestrian crossing, low overall capacity, and high threat of head-on collisions.
Earlier, Mr Asenso-Boakye inspected works on the 14 km Kasoa-Bawjiase roads, which began in September 2022, and expected to be completed in September 2024.
Valued at GHC95,945,753.56 the stretch is classified as (R15), and connects Kasoa to the Awutu Senya West District.
Big Dreams Investment, the contractor, has done 62 per cent work scheduled for completion by the end of the year.
Equally, the Minister expressed satisfaction with the works on the Ojobi-Senya-Bereku road in the Awutu Senya West District, the Assin Manso – Eshiem-Ajumako road in Assin South and the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam districts.
Mr Asenso-Boakye, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, expressed satisfaction with the progress of work and that their timely completion would improve the transportation network in the area.
‘’This reflects the Government’s commitment to improving the road networks to enhance transportation and reduce travelling time for commuters.’’
In December 2023, roads and transportation stakeholders in the region expressed resentment over about 100 road projects abandoned by contractors.
They include 30 projects under the Ghana Highway Authority, 40 under the Urban Roads Department and others under the Feeder Roads.
They asserted that some road contractors had been off the project sites for more than a year, citing the lack of funds as the reason for the abandonment.
Nonetheless, many residents in communities visited by the Minister were grateful to the government for the construction work.
“We thank the Government for dualising the Winneba -Kasoa roads. It will ease traffic and reduce travel time along the stretch,” a resident at Akoti Junction said.
GNA
AT/BM/ABD
23 April 2024
Pics attached
