Work On Rehabilitated Accra Tema Beach Road Now Completed

Tema, Sept 4, The Tema-Accra beach road is open to traffic after a six-week closure due to flooding of the Sakumo Lagoon, the contractors, Construction Pioneers (CP), have announced. The first vehicles started using the road last night but traffic increased when word reached motorists this morning. The contract, originally scheduled to be completed in four weeks, dragged on for six weeks due to the asphalting of a stretch of the road. Mr. Hermann Seevers, site engineer, told a delegation from the Tema Municipal Assembly today that four pipes with a diameter of 1.40 meters were laid for excess water from the lagoon to be discharged into the sea. The contract also involved the construction of a fenced wall, 70 centimetre higher than the storm bridge in place before the floods. Mr. Seevers told the delegation, led by Mr Emmanuel Ofoe, Coordinating Director of the Assembly, that the pipes and the fenced wall can take care of any flood from the Sakumo Lagoon. He advised drivers not to overspeed and to park off the road when the need arises. Mr Ofoe asked the department of urban roads to put the necessary road signs at the appropriate places to check overspeeding. He urged the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit of the Police to check excessive speeding. He appealed to the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, (GPRTU) to ensure that drivers revert to old fare of 550 cedis from Tema to Accra to avoid confrontations with passengers. The drivers raised their fares to 750 Cedis during the six-week closure of the road.