President Mahama opens parts of Circle interchange to traffic
President John Dramani Mahama on Friday opened portions of the Kwame Nkrumah interchange project to public traffic to ease congestion in the area.
The portions are the Aksanoma-Nsawam and the Baptist Church- Nsamam routes, which means vehicles heading to Accra from Nsawam and those heading towards Achimota-Nsawam would now use the flyovers.
He said the third tier, that is from Ring Road Central to Ring Road West towards Obetsebi Lamptey Roundabout, the police station, Nkrumah’s statue and a fountain are expected to be completed early 2016.
The $100 million – dollar project, which commenced in October 2013, is funded by a credit facility from the Brazilian government and the Government of Ghana.
Apart from providing an ultra-modern interchange in the city, an ambulance centre, fire station and police station would also be built under the interchange to cater for emergencies and criminal activities within the vicinity.
President Mahama said apart from the interchange, which is expected to ease congestion in the area, government would also asphalt a total of 76 kilometres of roads in Accra.
He mentioned the rehabilitation of the Accra East roads, including 37 Military Hospital-Burma Camp-Labadi trunk road, Burma-Camp-Spintex road, Awoshie-Pokuase and Pig Farm roads as some of the beneficiaries of the project.
The President appealed to motorists and passengers plying the Circle road, to cooperate with the contractors and security agencies during the execution of the Circle interchange, as it is likely to inconvenience them until its completion.
He said government would soon introduce the Accra Bus Rapid Transport system, as part of measures to ease congestion in the capital.
President Mahama said in line with the Bus Rapid Transport system, the first batch of buses have arrived and test runs have begun on some major roads and would soon be rolled out to the public.
President Mahama commended the Brazilian government for providing the credit facility and gave the assurance that the execution of the interchange would transform the area, in line with government’s commitment to increase infrastructure in the country.
“The contractor has handled the project with a lot of commitment and zeal and I want to commend him for that, with the hope that he will continue in the same tempo towards its completion.”
The programme was also attended by Ministers of State, representatives of the Brazilian government, leadership of the National Democratic Congress and party supporters.
Source: GNA