Work progressing steadily on Obetsebi-Lamptey Interchange

The Obetsebi-Lamptey Interchange, which construction commenced in October last year after President Akufo-Addo cut the sod, is about 92 complete.

Barring any hitch, the interchange will open to traffic next month.

The funding for the project, amounting to $135 million, was secured by the Akufo-Addo's government through the Export Credit Facility from the United Kingdom and Spain.

This came to light when President Akufo-Addo inspected the progress of work as part of his Greater Accra Regional tour on Tuesday.

The Obetsebi-Lamptey Interchange is located at the intersection of the Ring Road, Graphic Road, and the Accra-Winneba Road.

The stretch has witnessed vehicular congestion for a very long time and a major source of worry to commuters.

Additionally, the location has been experiencing perennial flooding due to inadequate capacity of the storm drains to contain running water.

It is for this and other reasons that the Government of Ghana decided to improve the capacity of the road through grade separation of the intersection and provision of additional stormwater channels.

According to engineers on-site, the project entailed an overpass over the intersection in the east to the west direction, and the improvement of the drainage system in the vicinity.

It also includes the relocation of all public utilities along the corridor including; electricity cables, Ghana Water Company pipelines, and telecommunication infrastructure.

The engineer told the President that the second phase of the project would include the construction of an overpass in the north to south direction, and the improvement of some critical arterial road improvements.

President Akufo-Addo also inspected the Jamestown Fishing Harbour.

The US$48 million dollar project is bankrolled by a Peoples’ Republic of China grant.

The project involves revamping the old Jamestown Fishing Harbour enclave into a Fishing Port Complex with additional facilities.

The works being undertaken on the project include the renovation of an old breakwater and construction of a new section to a total length of about 500 metres; dredging of the harbour basin to depths up to 5 mm metres for inshore outboard-motorized boats and canoes.

There would be a boat repair workshop and shed, including mechanical repairs workshop area and cradle platforms.

There would also be a new day-care centre with about 60 pupils capacity, for children of fisher folks, a cold store and midlevel fish processing facilities, including all the utility services systems – water, electricity, parking, driveways and administration offices.

The Project’s physical works began with the construction of a temporary area, near the Korle outfall, westwards from the Jamestown Harbour site, to relocate all the Fisherfolks into the temporary area.

Temporary works included earthworks, construction of a breakwater to protect canoes and prevent the influx of floating debris from the Odaw / Korle systems.

So far, the contractor has completed major site preparation works, set up temporary site offices, mobilized the requisite staff and equipment, demolished a substantial part of the fishing port area with concrete and foundation works ongoing.

The contractor indicated that the progress of work on the project as of September 30, 2020, was 15 per cent.