Construction of Tetteh Quarshie flyover causes traffic jam

Accra, Aug. 11, GNA - Commuters from Adenta, Madina, Ashaley Botwe, Legon, Tema, Eastern and Volta Regions, who use the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout were on Monday caught in a heavy traffic as construction of the flyover at the roundabout reached the main road.

So heavy was the traffic that some vehicles crawled for more than four hours for a stretch of the journey that normally takes barely 15 minutes. Some frustrated commuters walked part of the distance. The unusually heavy traffic, which started around 0630 hours, was attributed to the on-going construction of the Tetteh Quarshie interchange.

Commuters, mainly workers, school children and traders, who could not afford to abandon work, business and classes, walked briskly by the roadside with their luggage in an early morning shower.

Motorists spent three hours from the entrance of the University of Ghana, Legon to the Okponglo Junction. Those who could not stand the disappointment and the irritation went back home.

Speaking to a Ghana News Agency reporter, who was also stuck in the traffic for four hours, Mr Jones Quaye from Madina said: "I have wasted almost half of my working day in traffic, which could have been used for something productive for the benefit of the nation. Now here I am not even half-way through my journey."

He said the traffic on the Madina road needs urgent attention since many workers lived in that area.

Some motorists had no option than to use unauthorized routes to enable them to join the main road.

Police officers from the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, who were stationed at the Legon and Okponglo junctions to direct traffic, could hardly do anything about the situation.

Mr Ibrahim Seidu, a resident of Adenta who walked from Legon said a new route should be constructed for free flow of traffic.