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Accra-Tema Motorway: A Reflection of Failed Policies
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
The Accra-Tema Motorway is fast deteriorating, becoming a death
trap, with high traffic growth and encroachment of right-of-way,
and unless serious efforts are made by the Government to save
this vital national asset, traffic build-up and inconveniences
to commuters will soon dwarf what exists on other heavily
trafficked streets in Accra.
Poor land-use development, excessive axle loading, and
substandard maintenance practices are pushing the motorway into
an irreversible destructive spiral, posing major threats to
productivity and national security, Mr. Charles Kwame Boakye of
the Institute for Infrastructure Development has identified.
Ghana built its first and only motorway linking Tema and Accra
in 1964 as part of the country’s program of transforming Tema
into an industrial hub of the newly-independent nation. Among
the features of the motorway was a dual carriageway with a
median or a central reservation area that completely separated
the two carriageways. Like all motorways, the Accra -Tema
motorway was designed prohibiting pedestrian movement, parking
areas or U-turns. Moreover, until recently, no road joined the
motorway at any other section except the entry and exit points.
At 45 years old, the 19km Motorway is the oldest paved road in
Ghana. According to Mr. Boakye, “Being a concrete pavement, it
is more expensive to construct than asphalt or other bituminous
surface roads, but it is more economical to operate over the
long term. It is longer lasting, stronger, and requires minimal
maintenance. There are several concrete pavements in Europe and
North America that are almost 100 years old and the Accra-Tema
road could have easily attained this status if it had been
managed well. Unfortunately, it appears to be in its last days
with its elegant and shiny concrete pavement already fading
out”.
He added that the Accra- Tema motorway is showing defects and
the condition of the pavement is worsening by the day. Critical
observation shows it is rapidly deteriorating as sealant, steel
reinforcement damage and cracks are plainly visible.
The 300 metre (900 feet) wide right-of-way was largely preserved
until the late 1990s when development started on the northern
end and in the 2000s when the southern strip was re-zoned by the
Town and Country Planning Department and sold off by the Lands
Commission, while the Ministry and the Ghana Highway Authority
appeared unconcerned. New residential areas further north
include parts of East Legon, Adjiringano, Trasacco Valley and
the Borteiman Estates which are still under development.
Developments on the southern end include factories, bonded
warehouses, shopping malls, and residential estates.
The absence of road markings delineating overtaking from steady
lanes often confounds users unfamiliar with the motorway. The
outer lanes are generally intended for normal steady driving,
while the inner lanesthose closer to the medianare intended for
overtaking. This is different from some countries in Europe and
North America where the outer lane is used for overtaking. The
bituminous shoulders, intended for maintenance and emergency
use, are converted to a third lane whenever traffic builds up.
The shoulders wearing course reels, permitting water seepage,
and underscoring the speedy deterioration of the pavement
borders, Mr. Boakye pointed out.
The economic importance of the motorway cannot be over
emphasized as it is the main route for transporting goods to the
Tema Harbour, and also passengers and goods to the Volta and
Northern Regions from Accra, and countries east of Ghana. It is
part of the Trans-West Africa highway network project that
ECOWAS member countries are undertaking from Senegal to Nigeria.
The Motorway also carries traffic from Accra to Tema
(Communities 21, 22, 25) and settlements and communities in
Sakumono and Teshie-Nungua.
Environmental management and traffic growth
The motorway is fast losing its environmental attractions and
driving quality. The broad view, breathtaking landscape coupled
with the serene atmosphere and constant uninterrupted swirling
fresh air, used to make plying the motorway a delight. However,
these conditions are steadily vanishing as trees and vegetative
cover are gradually giving way to brick and mortar, real estate
and industrial establishments.
In the dry season, the shrubs and grasses within the median are
burnt by those supposed to keep them neat and tidy resulting in
brush fires and smoke causing low visibility and environmental
hazards to commuters.
Traffic along the Accra-Tema Motorway has grown significantly
since the completion of the Ashaiman interchange five years ago,
and also due to the use of unapproved access routes at the
Sakumono Abattoir area. As a result of rapid urbanization of
settlements along the Spintex road, motorists that previously
used the Spintex road to and from Accra have diverted their
course through the motorway.
A traffic study carried out by Soman Consult for the Ministry of
Roads and Highways in 2007 revealed that the total average
annual daily traffic (AADT) on the Motorway for both ends was
23,211. It is estimated that while the average national
vehicular traffic growth is 15 percent, growth on the motorway
corridor is more than 20 percent per annum. At this rate, the
total AADT by 2010 will be 45,000. This means an average of
45,000 vehicles will use the motorway each day by end of next
year, with cars - 47 percent; four wheel-drives - 18 percent;
light buses - 18 percent; and heavy buses and goods trucks - 15
percent.
In just five years, when portions of the former Nungua farm
lands restored to the Nungua stool are fully developed, and the
Tema Development Corporation completes development of
Communities 23 and 24 at the northern end, pressure will
increase for more access routes into the Motorway and traffic
could build up for a few kilometres from Tetteh-Quarshie
interchange. Vehicles could thus spend an average of at least
one hour crossing the Motorway.
A Death trap
Beneath the veneer of suitability and comfort lies a feeling of
deep displeasure by a section of users that the motorway is
undoubtedly becoming a death trap. There has been steady growth
in the number of accidents and casualties on the Motorway.
Information available indicates that on the average two
accidents occur on the motorway daily. The National Road Safety
Commission reports that the Motorway recorded 16 fatal accidents
within the first two months of 2009, claiming the lives of 18,
and injuring 23.
A number of reasons account for the evolving high accident rate
on the motorway, one of them being the emergence of passenger
stops, about six so far. Drivers drop off passengers on the
Motorway and in like manner, passengers converge at various
spots along the motorway for transport. Prominent parking areas
include the stretch adjoining the Action Chapel, Printex factory
and the Ashaiman underpass.
It is on record that accidents have occurred at the drop-off
points because drivers, prompted by passengers, suddenly swerve
to the outer lane to stop only to cross an oncoming vehicle.
Drivers have also misjudged the speed of approaching traffic on
the outer lanes. Other causes include low visibility due to poor
lighting. There are also complaints by passengers awaiting
vehicles, especially in the night, of criminal activities like
rape and robbery.
More encroachment
Encroachment on the motorway is an ongoing activity. Buildings
and warehouses are springing up rapidly, as if it is a race.
Currently, there is a huge ground water tank positioned next to
the pavement that will clearly impede future expansion of the
motorway. The water tank serves the Accra Mall. Next to this is
the show room for a reputable real estate company.
The earlier encroachment on the motorway is stopped, the better.
The loss of productivity, the waste of fuel, threats to health,
crime and similar costs to the nation would otherwise be
colossal. It would be easier to address the problem now than
later. The expense and challenge involved in rectifying the
problem swells for each day that no action is taken.
It appears Ghanaian leaders and technocrats have learned nothing
from the problems Spintex road has caused commuters. Mr. Boakye
therefore advised the authorities about the imminent crisis on
the Spintex road as far back as 1997 but nothing was done.
“ Consider that the Government is saddled with paying millions
of cedis as compensation for people affected by the expansion of
the Motorway extension work N1, financed by the Millennium
Development Authority “ MiDA”, an expense that could have been
avoided if state institutions had preserved the right of way
from encroachment”, he lamented.
The absence of an adequate land-use plan is identified as one of
the factors fuelling the rapid encroachment on the Motorway. At
this rate, without firm government intervention traffic will
become unbearable in the not too distant future, accidents will
increase, the motorway will be downgraded to a dual carriageway,
and traffic lights and parking lots will have to be introduced.
The Motorway will cease to be an express way linking Accra and
Tema, and virtually become a street running through several
townships and residential settlements.
Financing road maintenance and better management
One major constraint affecting the maintenance of the motorway
is inadequate financial resources. Currently, average net
revenue paid to the Road Fund is a paltry GH¢62,000 per month,
projected to be GHﾢ750,000 per annum. The operator spends an
equivalent amount for recurrent expenditure and operating
expenses. Revenues from tolls have increased slightly since the
new operator started work about four months ago.
The current toll rates, unchanged since 1998, are out of touch
with economic reality and thus funds obtained are grossly
inadequate to maintain the motorway. A gradual increase from 5
to 50 pesewas for cars and similar adjustments made for other
vehicle types could have generated $60 million over the last 10
years.
A global road toll study conducted by the World Bank ascertained
that toll rates in Ghana are currently about one twentieth of
what exists in similar low income countries. It is important car
rates are increased to 30 Ghana pesewas from 2010, then 50
pesewas from 2011, and GHﾢ1 from 2012. Should this happen, and
further revenue leakages blocked, and current traffic growth are
maintained, cumulative receipts for the next 11 years up to 2020
will exceed US$150 million. This is adequate to finance the
construction of parallel service roads, asphalt overlay, and
interchanges to enhance traffic flow.
Other issues to be addressed include the management of the
tolling facilities by operators whose only responsibility is to
collect tolls while road maintenance and management remains the
responsibility of Ghana Highway Authority (GHA). Similar to the
practice in developed countries, it is important that GHA
recruits highway management services firms that will not only
collect tolls but also undertake technical work on the entire
carriageway.
There is an urgent need to institute a body to regulate all toll
roads in Ghana. The Ministry’s responsibility must be handed
over to a body, established by an act of Parliament, mandated to
act as a separate National Road Toll Authority not only for the
Motorway but also all other roads in Ghana. This will ensure
that politicians are taken out of the decision making process in
determining the level of rates.
The thinking underpinning management of the motorway must move
away from treating it as a social service managed by a
bureaucracy and funded by the tax payer, towards a more
commercial approach which imposes a form of surrogate market
discipline or competition, much like other utilities.
Enforcing Executive Instrument on the Motorway
In March 1973, an Executive Instrument was passed declaring the
Accra - Tema Motorway as a legal entity with prescribed tolls
for various categories of vehicles (EI 46 of 1973). The EI,
which was not enforced, must be revised in the light of present
developments, not limiting it to the carriageway, but including
the Ashaiman interchange and the entire right-of-way. This is
necessary because state institutions are unable to protect the
Motorway. In 2004, residents of East Legon brought a legal
action and won the case against the Town and Country Planning
Department for re-zoning and allocating parts of the motorway to
developers.
Future development
Given the rapid traffic growth on the motorway, many factories
have encroached on the right-of-way and opened up access routes
directly onto the pavement. It is important that design features
and tolling systems should take into account the peculiar needs
and constraints of the industries to create access to their work
places. If reasonable and convenient alternative routes are not
available, there is likely to be agitation by users. There is
the need therefore to construct frontage roads running parallel
to the Motorway that will provide access to homes and businesses
that have been cut off.
He was emphatic to say that a gradual increase in road tolls
will yield adequate funds to finance asphalt overlay over the
concrete road, provide bright street lights, finance expansion
of the existing two lanes to three in either direction, provide
frontage/service roads running parallel to the motorway, and
finance the construction of two more interchanges, one at the
Abattoir and the other at Trasacco Valley. The Ministry of Roads
and Highways and the GHA must lead towards the preparation of an
investment plan and better management models.
The new Lands Commission and national security have shown strong
commitment to preserve the motorway by advertising for the
removal of properties that fall within 50 meters (150 feet) from
the center line. The Government must be highly commended for
this action. Unfortunately, 150 feet is not adequate to support
future expansion and must be increased to 250 feet.
Nevertheless, Ghanaians must throw their weight behind the
efforts of the authorities to improve conditions along the
corridor, Mr. Boakye appealed.
Adding “If we do not solve this problem today, we shall be
creating bigger problems for ourselves in the near future. It
would cost about $300 million to construct a similar road,
considering its features and embankments. As a developing
country, we have the benefit of learning from other people and
countries to solve our problems. The downgrading of the motorway
to a dual carriageway is imminent, but Government must lead the
way in avoiding further crisis on the corridor”.
Ghanadot
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