An old nursery rhyme about traffic lights read: "When you see the traffic light, there is something you should know, red means stop, yellow means get ready, green means go, go, go and go."
But what does one do, when there are no lights and all the traffic poles are wobbly and stranded? That is the current state of affairs at the Achimota old station traffic lights
In between the two Achimota overheads, (the old and the new overheads), there are two traffic lights. One is situated immediately after the old overhead if you are headed for the Mile 7/St. Johns, the more important one (for want of a better word) is at the old station bus stop.
On one side of that particular traffic intersection is the main Achimota and Akweteyman Township, whiles on the other side of it, there is the charcoal station and Achimota new station bus stop.
For months now, the traffic lights in the area have been in a state of disrepair. From those that have been tied with ropes, some have been knocked down by vehicles and the striking aspect being that all of them are not functioning.
Some of the lights have virtually turned in the opposite direction, others have weeds growing under them, some are almost falling over and have their wires popping out of their sockets.
The net effect then is; even though there is a zebra crossing under these lights, people have to wait for long periods to cross the road because drivers ply the road as though it was a highway given the non functional situation that prevails.
A situation that endangers the lives of people going about their everyday activities.
Residents get temporal reprieve in the mornings when traffic police man their posts especially in the mornings, but the precarious state of affairs is back soon after the police leaves the spot.
The place is perhaps not fortunate to have young boys who man the intersections when traffic lights go off (permanently or temporarily)
Residents have expressed misgivings about the situation, lamenting that authorities responsible are perhaps waiting for a fatality to occur to be awakened to what could have been avoided.
We are by this calling on the relevant authorities to do what is right and undertake repairs at the intersection in order to restore sanity on the roads.