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At more than 20 road intersections identified by the Daily Graphic in Accra, traffic lights presented different types of problems: some were completely extinguished, others were partially functioning, while others did not work at all.
Except for those who were visibly out of order, some of the lamps were powered but did not work well because the three signs (colors) lit at the same time and did not flash.
Some pelican crossings for pedestrians have also shown red and green traffic lights at the same time, exposing pedestrians to road traffic accidents and injuries.
Traffic lights are very important because the country does not have a lot of bridges and interchanges, and motorists and pedestrians rely on traffic light systems to handle the movements on the city's roads.
The Daily Graphic editions of February 21, 2018 and October 5, 2018 have published articles drawing attention to the disastrous state of the traffic lights in Accra and its suburbs.
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Some broken lights hang loosely on the cables that feed them, which means that they can easily fall and injure pedestrians.
This is particularly the case of traffic lights at the Kwame Nkrumah interchange, where more than 20 standard traffic lights (the three-light bar) are out of order or are not functioning properly.
In some places, light bulbs are extinguished and have fallen out of socket due to negligence, as is the case of the lights at the intersection of Madina Zongo Junction.
In the busy Central Business District of Accra, all the traffic lights located at the intersection near the barracks of the Central Police Station are not visible.
According to some traders in the area, the lighthouses that circulated there had not worked for nearly two years, putting pressure on the traffic police who were to be present all day.
Lights of 20 years
Records from the Urban Roads Department (DUR) indicate that some of the abandoned traffic lights are 20 years old and need to be replaced.
DUR reported that traffic light problems ranged from temporary problems, such as power surges / surges and power outages, to endemic problems, such as theft of conductive cables and landfill disposal in cities. controllers.
Totally extinguished
Checks done by the Daily Graphic at various traffic lights last week indicated that all traffic lights located at the Graphic Road-Adabraka intersection, near the Graphic Communications Group Limited, as well as another at Graphic Press House, near the Accra brewery, and Rawlings Park and the CMB did not work.
Similarly, those located in the vicinity of the Kwame Nkrumah interchange – in front of the Orion cinema, the GCB bank near the city of Vienna and the ridge taxi station – the Neoplan station, the roundabout close to New Times Corporation , the new Shell Station of Achimota and the Achimota Forest were not all working.
The situation was the same on the Kanda Road towards the roundabout near the Kanda Flats, Kanda 441, the Kanda Total bus stop to GBC and the Adenta SDA intersection.
Some work
At some intersections, only the traffic lights on the main road were functioning, while those on the adjacent lanes were off, posing a threat to motorists who sometimes had difficulty understanding sudden acceleration on the other side when They were trying to use another stream of vehicles. traffic.
These include those at Madina Zongo Junction, where almost all the traffic lights are turned off and on; Ritz Junction, Okponglo, Kwashieman Junction, 37 Roundabout, Opeibea House, Airport First, Honda Place and Toyota Ghana on the Graphic Road, the Temple of Christ of the Central Church of the International Gospel in Abossey Okai and Kaneshie First Light .
Other are the intersection of the Ghana Standardization Authority, the new Achimota Station, the Achimota Police Station, the University of Professional Studies, the Junction of 39; Accra / University of Ghana Business School and the entrance to Presbyterian Boys High School (Presec).
Fixed
After the October publication in the Daily Graphic, a number of traffic lights work. These include those located in front of GLICO, the Vodafone office in Alajo, Abeka Junction, the Ghana Cocoa Board headquarters and the Ecobank branch near the Adabraka market on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.
When the Minister of Roads and Roads, Mr. Kwesi Amoako-Atta, took his turn during the press television series of January 22 this year, he promised that all the faulty traffic lights in the capital would be working. here in June of this year.
He explained that a $ 35 million traffic management center, under construction at DUR, would help solve the problem.
The project aimed to coordinate all traffic lights along major roads in the capital and to manage traffic remotely from the center.
He challenged the media to go back and ask questions about traffic lights and projects if, in June, the center was not open and the traffic lights were operational.
Minister's reaction
But five months after the announcement, only a few fires were corrected.
Three calls and an SMS sent to Mr. Amoako-Atta have not received a response.
The reaction of DUR
When Ms. Daily Graphic contacted the HTA's road safety engineer, Ms. Patricia Onny, she led the reporter to the Ministry of Roads and Highways for her response to the State of the traffic lights in the city.
However, last February, Nana Kwame-Fori Obuobi, DUR engineer, in charge of development and road traffic, said that in the case of traffic lights at the interchange Kwame Nkrumah, a subcontractor having installed the gadgets during the construction of an exchange had been contracted to remedy the situation.
In the case of Graphic Road traffic lights, he stated that there was a temporary power supply problem that would be resolved by the end of March 2018.
He added that the main problem in Accra was the vandalism of the controllers and the theft of voltaic stabilizers and cables, and some residents also poured garbage into some of the controllers.
Although police officers from the Department of Road Traffic and Transport (MTTD) and community policing have been deployed on some of the roads, they tend to be active only during peak hours.
MTTD Reaction
The MTTD commander in Central Accra, Mr. Anderson Fosu-Ackah, Deputy Police Commissioner (ACP), told the Daily Graphic that the police had always been on the road, whether the traffic lights were working or not, because the volume of vehicles.
However, he said that traffic lights were needed on the roads, especially at night, to control traffic jams at the closing of MTTD officials.
He added that the MTTD was currently deploying its agents on the main roads of the city and not on minor roads, as traffic converged on major highways, such as the George Walker Bush Road (N1), the Achimota-Ofankor road, Accra-Legon-Madina (N4) road and Tema-Accra Beach road.
"We ask that the traffic lights be corrected because the MTTD is a human institution, we will not always be on the roads," he said.
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