OccupyGhana suggests measures to curb Adenta crashes

A day after violent protests by residents along the Madina-Adenta N4 Highway following the killing of a female student by a speeding taxi, pressure group OccupyGhana has proposed some measures to be put in place by government to help reduce the carnage on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta N4 Highway.

The death of the female student, who reportedly attempted to cross the road after school, triggered violent protests by residents along the Madina-Adenta stretch of the highway that links Aburi to Accra.

Out of frustration and anger, the residents, mainly made up of the youth, set fire on old car tyres on Thursday, November 8, 2018, to block vehicles from using the road as a result of the death of the student.

She was believed to be the 198th person to have lost her life in such a painful manner along that road apparently due to the absence of footbridges for pedestrians to use and speeding by some motorists.

In a statement, OccupyGhana said it was alarmed at the spate of pedestrian deaths on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta Highway (N4) in Accra due primarily to the unavailability of safe-crossing facilities on the road.

According to the group, “the latest accident in which a first-year female student of West Africa Senior High School (WASS) was reported to have been killed becomes the 198th reported death on the Madina-Adenta Highway this year.”

OccupyGhana joins the nation in grieving with the bereaved families of the deceased, it said.

“The incident which caused angry residents to set ablaze car tyres to register their protest to the government is deeply regrettable and would have been avoided had government been proactive in arresting the situation sooner,” the statement added.

The statement underscored: “OccupyGhana is surprised that after 11 years of the construction of the highway, none of the footbridges has been completed. This situation has made it unsafe for pedestrians to cross the multiple-lane highway. It is expected that footbridges, which form the integral safety of pedestrians, must be constructed before the commissioning of any highway.”

The statement continues: “Government should immediately impose and enforce specific speed limits on that stretch of the road and that rumble strips should be constructed on the long-stretch of road beginning from the University of Ghana to the Pantang end of the highway to reduce the unnecessary speeding of drivers.”

Again, the group is urging government to immediately “replace all faulty traffic lights with modern solar-powered lights and provide extra traffic lights with toucan crossing system to allow free flow of traffic."

"Public education must be extended to the public on safe crossing of the highways by the National Road Safety Commission. Officials of the MTTD of the Ghana Police must be on duty at all times to control the traffic situation till all works are completed on the repairs and installation of the traffic lights and rumble streets.”

It also called on government to fix all reflectors and streetlights along that stretch of the road.

Government has actually declared its intention to commence work on the six uncompleted footbridges along Madina-Adenta and also intensify public education through the National Road Safety Commission on road safety measures.

OccupyGhana believes that it is absolutely unacceptable that after about 11 years of completing N4 Highway, governments over the years have not been able to complete the footbridges.