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A contractor is currently doing maintenance works on the Old Winneba road, as an alternative to the SCC – Weija – Old barrier sandy silt and flood prone section of the number one [N1] national highway, Dr Daniel Sowah, the Ga South Municipal Roads Engineer has said.
This is to help divert traffic unto that road during periods where the SCC – Weija – Old barrier section of the national highway in Accra gets flooded.
There is a perennial traffic congestion on that corridor of the N1 highway that connects Greater Accra to Kasoa in the Central Region, when it rains.
According to the municipal roads engineer, the perennial flood on that section of the highway is due to loss of vegetation as a result of concrete building constructions in that area and especially on the hills in the vicinity.
“It is a result of erosion, anytime it rains, it washes the surface of the soil. Remember, everybody is building in Accra. Hitherto, all those areas were covered with vegetation but now there are construction going on all over. You cut the surface of the soil and you lose the texture…, anytime it rains, it [soil] is just at the mercy of the water and it comes down,” Dr Sowah said.
Dr Sowah says the immediate engineering solution to the problem is the construction of a storm drain in the area, which has already started.
“Where a lot of the silt come from, we are now constructing a storm drain, right from the place that is called Baba Dogo,” he added.
Apart from the first engineering solution, which is the construction of a storm drain, Dr Sowah says the Urban Roads Department was also working on the alternative route along the old beach road, the Old Winneba road, which has been renamed the Atta-Mills road.
That road connects Dansoman through Pambros, Aplaku, Kokrobite, Gomoa Nyanyano, Fetteh Kakraba to Buduburam Liberia camp.
It is currently in a very bad state with many potholes on it.
Aside that, the roads engineer is urging residents to plant trees to help reduce the silt.
Another solution, he said, was to construct the adjoining roads in the area.
Dr Sowah was reacting to Monday night’s traffic gridlock between SCC and Old Barrier as a result of the rains that led to floods between that section.
There was gridlock on that section of the N1 highway between 5pm and Tuesday dawn.
Some commuters spent close to nine hours trying to cross that section.
In a radio interview on Citi FM Tuesday morning [May 14], monitored by Graphic Online, Dr Sowah said there is a stream in the area, Broadcasting top, and that when it rains, water comes unto the road.
He disagreed with a suggestion that the problem was as a result of sand winning in the area
What happened on Monday?
The Kasoa – Mallam Road on Monday night witnessed one of the heaviest traffic congestions in recent times following a downpour that hit Accra and its environs.
The downpour resulted in the flooding of the road around SCC and Old Barrier resulting in vehicles from Kasoa to Mallam moving to the lane of those who were heading towards Kasoa from Mallam.
The situation led to the blockage of the road as vehicles were unable to move.
The inability of vehicles to move led to the traffic congestion extending from Atico to the Old Barrier.
Some motorists from Accra moved to the stretch at Mango Lane towards the Weija junction.
With all the vehicles coming to a standstill, drivers and passengers got out of their vehicles to stretch their legs.
As of midnight, commuters and vehicle owners were still stranded.
Some commuters spend around  9 hours in the congestion.
