UNDOUBTEDLY, motorists and pedestrian plying the Mallam-Kasoa stretch of the Accra-Cape Coast Highway will heave a sigh of relief as work on a 500-metre double cell culvert drain commences next Monday to collect the waters from upstream into the sea without blocking traffic during heavy rains.
It is also expected to reduce or stop the perennial flooding in the area that comes with loss of lives and damage to properties.
According to experts the existing drains which measure 13 metres is too small to contain the volume of water from upstream and that is what the project is seeking to widen it to 70 metres to ensure free flow of water during heavy rains, to avoid flooding.
The Ghanaian Times is reliably informed that an environmental and social safeguard had been carried out and compensations paid to people likely to be affected by the project. That is commendable.
It has always been a nightmarish experience for motorists and pedestrians during heavy rains; as they have to temporarily give way to the floods. Indeed, the road is a major transnational road that serves as a highway linking Nigeria, Benin, Togo and La Cote D'ivoire.
The perennial floods at the Mallam junction had been attributed to the sitting of a filling station which has been closed down and the place cordoned-off for over a year to make way for actual work to address the flood challenge in the area.
Now that the project is taking off, it would set many minds at ease, particular as to whether the city authorities are committed to addressing the plight of motorists and pedestrians. Many have been apprehensive as it appeared that nothing was being done despite promises upon promises by the Ghana Highway Authority.
Thank God, the World Bank has come to our aid with funding to execute the job to make lives better for the people.
Nonetheless, the project is going to create a lot of inconvenience in terms of traffic build up and increase in travel time when work starts in earnest on Monday. Although the public has been assured of traffic management, we still sympathise with the motoring public for the price they have to pay during the duration of the project.
We urge all stakeholders to ensure enough public education on alternative routes to ease the difficulties that the travelling public would endure during the period.
Indeed, commuters would endure another 50 days gridlock and an increase in travel time, beginning on Monday when construction work is expected to commence in earnest.
We appreciate the work of our engineers and consultants and it is our wish that traffic management and diversion would be effective enough to reduce the "go slow" during these 50 days of work.
We plead with commuters to bear with the "pain" and sacrifice their "comfort" to get this problem fixed once and for all.
We wish the contractors well in the execution of the project, as we pray that diversion and traffic management would be effectively carried out to make life bearable for motorists on that stretch of road.
