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By Ken Sackey / Godwill Arthur-Mensah, RNG
Accra, August 2, GNA – President Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned Friday the Accra Traffic Management Center
as part of the urban transport project, to ensure efficient vehicle traffic,
reduce road congestion and improve the socio-economic productivity of the
Capital city.
The center, known as inter-regional traffic
AWTSCS ", was implemented by the Ministry of Roads and Transport.
Highways through the Urban Roads Department, with funding from French
Development and the Government of Ghana, at an estimated cost of 8.3 million GHc
(3.4 million USD).
The project, first in Ghana and in West Africa,
was executed by MM. Alumbrados Varios of Spain and Dakal Construction
Works of Ghana, to improve the fluidity of traffic on urban road networks and
efficiency at different intersections.
The first phase of the project was targeted
coordinating traffic lights and 41 traffic lights have been upgraded to
intersections between Neoplan badembly plant in Achimota and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue
and Kojo Thompson Road to Central Business District of Accra.
At the inauguration ceremony in Accra,
President Akufo-Addo urged the Ministry of Roads and Highways and its
executing agencies to ensure the proper maintenance of the installation, in order to
serve as a model center of excellence.
The management of the center would be
undertaken jointly by the Sector Ministry through the Urban Roads Department
with the support of the Ghanaian police and the Greater Accra pbadenger
Directorate of Transport.
He said that AWTSCS was aimed at improving the level
at the various intersections, made sure to coordinate and
synchronized signaling systems to reduce travel time, bus provided
priority to certain signposted intersections critical for buses with high occupancy
(Bus Ayalolo) and identified and corrected fatal or critical problems at
signalized intersections to facilitate traffic data collection for planning
purposes.
The President mentioned some activities
companies during the first phase of the project such as building a
Traffic Management Center that processes traffic data collected in the field
traffic controllers, LED and magneto signal heads.
detectors.
The second phase of the project is expected
start on August 15 of this year and end in September 2020 with funding
of the China Development Bank and will involve 207 signalized intersections
in the Greater Accra region.
This, he says, would include; installation
new traffic controllers and the installation of detectors to collect vital information.
traffic data necessary for the smooth running of traffic in the national capital.
He said the commissioning of the facility
was an important step towards the resolution of traffic congestion in Accra, noting that
free movement of vehicles and safety on the roads were essential for the
nation development and strengthening key sectors of society
economy.
Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Atta, Minister of Roads
and Highways, in a speech, said that the inauguration of the facility was a bold
government's attempt to the
permanent problem of congestion in Accra due to the increase in the number of vehicles
growth rate in the country.
He noted that the pilot's statistics and
The Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has shown that the growth rate of vehicles in Accra
between 2015 and 2018 was between 12 and 15 percent, putting pressure on
existing road infrastructure.
As a result, the Ministry was
innovative measures and a holistic approach to meeting the challenge,
comprising; provision of infrastructure for public transport terminals,
dedicated bus lanes, improved roads and interchange construction,
added.
He said that secret cameras had been attached to the
various traffic intersections to monitor recalcitrant motorists who would like to jump
red lights and arrested persons would be fined to deter others.
Mr. Amoako-Atta called on all road users to
respect the rules of the road and protect the heavy investment
in the construction of the facility to ensure the optimization of resources and improve
productivity.
GNA
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