Kumasi to get 70km asphalted roads before end of year

A total of 70 kilometers of roads within the Kumasi metropolis are to be asphalted before the end of this year to improve free traffic flow and the road network in the city.

The roads include Kaase –Sokoban Wood Village stretch, Kumasi Brewery junction to Afanko junction, the Central business district, KNUST junction, Anloga junction, and Suame roundabout.

Last year, 78 kilometers of roads in the metropolis were re-sealed with another 55 kilometers undergoing bitumen surfacing.

Director of Urban Roads in Kumasi, Eng. Nana Poku Agyemang, who disclosed this, could however not tell the budget for the project and when it is likely to start.

He said on-going construction works on some key road projects including Dompoase-Kuwait, Buokrom Estate, Tafo, Denkyemuoso, Kwadaso and others would also be completed this year.

Nana Agyemang disclosed that the Urban Roads Department has secured funds from Agence Francaise de Development to undertake the second phase of the Asokwa Interchange which will commence early next year.

He said the expansion work would involve an extension of the dual carriageway from Coca Cola plant to the Afanko junction at Atonsu and the lining of the two kilometer Aboabo stream.

Consultants have already finished with the designs, he said, noting that bidding will start soon on the project

Started by the Kufour administration and completed under the Mahama administration, the interchange was expected to ease traffic congestion on that portion of the road but objective appears to have been defeated due to traffic congestion due to the narrow road at the Coca Cola plant area.

Meanwhile, work is progressing steadily on the KNUST junction footbridge to control and manage traffic at the area, which gets congested all the time.

He expressed the hope that the construction of the footbridge would significantly reduce the number of pedestrians knocked downs on the roads.